Edmund Burkes

Edmund Burke

Speech to Bristol Electors

By

Kashunda Conyers

History and Civilization 2

Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke was born on July 12, 1729 in Dublin, Ireland. His father, who was a Protestant, was a fairly successful lawyer, wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. Edmund’s mother was Roman Catholic decent. Burke attended a boarding school as a lad, and later sent to London to study law. Edmund did in fact study law, however it was brief. He saw the opportunity to explore his dream and that was to become a writer. Later, he became a private secretary for Charles Rockingham, who later kept a seat in the House of Commons for Burke which led him initially into the world of Parliament. He entered Parliament in 1765 and right off he was very critical to the English citizens needs and corruption in the government.

The formal paper is designed to explore Edmund Burkes opinion of the duties of the elected representative of the people, representative voting, and Burkes Theory according to how we govern our society presently.

The people’s wishes and happiness depend on the elected representatives. In a political aspect, the term representation suggest that the elected individual should stand and act on behalf of the electors. Representation should be a bridge connecting government officials and the common people. The problem and concern is whether officials serve the people by voting in the pursuit of common good or vote toward the favor of their constituents. Edmund Burke argued in favor of elected representatives serving its people through common good, rather than the opinion of their constituents. If the representatives do not represent the people and make decisions based on their own opinion they are diminishing the opinion and judgment of the people. Everyone have the right to an equal opinion but the representative have to debate and argue for what the people think. The representatives have the job of protecting and sharing the people’s...