Congress

I believe there is no black and white answer to this question. A Congressman cannot only act upon what their constituents want, nor can they act only based upon their opinions and what they believe is best. There should be a compromise between the two extremes. I believe that a compromise can be reached with either the Politico Model or the Conscience Model of legislating. With the former, a Congressman follows his own opinions and beliefs, until the public becomes seriously involved with the issues and he must heed their wishes. This makes perfect sense to me, for said Congressman's opinions were obviously liked enough by his public to get him elected. The majority of the public obviously trusts the Congressman to follow his beliefs (which were made known during campaign time), and they believe his opinions will lead to the best decisions for the district.  Similar to this Model is the latter, the Conscience Model of legislation. The Congressman will follow the will of his public for the most part, until there is a situation where he must follow his own instincts in doing what he believes is right for the district. I like this model as well. Again, the people obviously trust the Congressman's opinions and therefor trust his instincts and conscience, because they are the ones who elected him. And many times, the Congressman will have the knowledge the public does not, and can use that knowledge to make his own choice which will benefit the people. For example, Congressman Cao of Louisiana had to trust his own opinions on what he thought would be better for his district when voting on the Stimulus Package. Though the people thought he would vote yes, at the last minute, Cao trusted his own instincts and did not vote in favor, for he considered the other option to be better for the district which he represented.