I actually agree with you. The immediately preceding paragraph in my post said... "Is it best to elect officials who we believe to be more knowledgeable that o

I actually agree with you. The immediately preceding paragraph in my post said... "Is it best to elect officials who we believe to be more knowledgeable that ourselves, and to defer to their judgment on issues that are outside of our understanding? Or is it better for an official to serve as a direct representative of the people?" If the answer is the latter...in this framework, a representative exists as an "aggregator of wills". I'm basically laying out the two options you highlight.