It may be relevant to repost here a comment I made in the "brownshirts" thread in response to GfS:..in fact, I hereby deem it relevant to the debate over 'how much government' we should have and what the 'majority' wants.

"This "will of the people" phrase is a bit overused and misunderstood as a guide to how elected officials should make decisions.
Of course our elected representatives should take into account, as best they can, the opinions of those who elected them, but not just blindly. They were also elected because they were trusted to study situations, in this full-time job, and understand better than the average voter what is needed and what is best for not only THEIR constituents, but for the country as a whole.
   There are areas in which they SHOULD vote mostly as the "will of the people" dictates, but there are also areas where "the people" have little idea what the situation is and what consequences might be.
   It is possible for the hoi polloi to have a collective opinion that is uninformed, prejudiced or just plain dangerous & wrong. Should a member of Congress vote to bomb Iran, just because he get a lot of letters asking him to?
If the elected official(s) turn out to be dumb, unresponsive...and in the pay of some lobby, we have recourse at the next election.