The DC City Council is scheduled to vote on and approve gay marriage in the district this week. This is an example of a problem with representation that at times occurs.

DC is predominantly African-American. African-Americans are much more opposed to gay marriage than are their white counterparts. We don’t have to depend upon survey data to tell us this (although it does). We have a real-life example. In 2004, Kerry lost Ohio because African-Americans voted for him in much smaller percentages than expected, to a great extent because there was a gay marriage amendment on the ballot at the time.

As well, the Catholic Church has advised the DC City Council that, if the measure is approved, the Church would either eliminate or reduce some social services that it currently provides. If the District was flush with money, that might not be a problem, but even in good economic times, DC has fiscal issues, due to its dependence upon the federal government for funding. My guess is that the federal government now, with its own budget problems, will not readily fill in the gap caused by this self-induced problem.

So why would the City Council act now to approve same sex marriage then? This isn’t a rare occurrence, where representatives act against the wishes of the constituents at large. Two other examples are NAFTA in 1993 and cap and trade legislation which passed the House earlier this year.

My guess as to what causes this situation is that representatives often have little contact with ordinary citizens. Instead, they deal with other political elites and interest group leaders, and believe that those views mirror those of the populace.