Only days after appealing to the will of the people, Greece’s
prime minister put forward a proposal to the state’s creditors that contradicts
the people’s rejection of further austerity. To be sure, the referendum was
nonbinding, and the need for compromise was well justified by the seizing up of
the state’s banking system and economy after the “No” vote. Furthermore, one of
the virtues of representative as distinct from direct democracy is that officeholders
can pursue policies contrary to the immediate
will of the people but in line with their best interest. Alexis Tsipras
faced immanent economic catastrophe, and so he can reasonably be credited with
acting in his constituents’ best interest. Nevertheless, the sting of betrayal
(and the larger theoretical point of governmental sovereignty being subordinate
to popular sovereignty) warrants attention in this case.
The full essay is at "Essays on the E.U. Political Economy," available at Amazon.
