WIRED DEMOCRACY

"Congress is becoming a poll-watching, poll-taking Babel, far from the independent deliberative body envisioned by the Founders."

Duane Robertson Orangevale, California

Your report on electronic populism hits the bull's-eye: contemporary communications systems too easily accommodate everybody's reactions to everything [Cover Stories, Jan. 23]. Senators cite percentages gleaned from phone and fax communications from the citizenry to prop up their points. doesn't help with its frequent telephone polls. It is high time we give our representatives some breathing space to legislate without constant reference to the whimsy of the popular opinions of the moment. Even if 50 million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.

David M. Powers Briarcliff Manor, New York

Some politicians are in touch with the people, and some are not. However, a hyperdemocracy is more of a good thing than a bad thing. The architects of the U.S. government wanted it to be of the people, by the people and for the people. Politicians like Newt Gingrich are trying to expand the involvement of the people in the process. If you close the government off, all you will get is social discord, and members of Congress who are isolated will receive a one-way ticket back to their home districts.

Lacey Rayner, age 15 Modesto, California AOL: LaceyLr

A PROBLEM IN OUR PSEUDODEMOCRACIES is lack of access to those making decisions on our behalf. Having representatives make laws for citizens has merit. But in such a system, we lose the input of others who may be more qualified than the legislators to judge, or we may fail to hear from those who will be affected. A pure form of democracy does exist in a country of economic and political stability: Switzerland. Why haven't more countries imitated this model? The answer lies in the type of person attracted to politics in the democratic system, which bestows power, prestige and privilege. Politicians are not about to voluntarily give up their status. We have to change the system; we have to change the people representing us. The revolution is incomplete.

Terry Vulcano San Ignacio, Belize

WE GREAT UNWASHED HAVE BECOME cynical and disillusioned about representative democracy. Politicos promise us anything, only to toe the party line and defer to the bureaucracy once elected. Until we personally feel we have some real input into the political system, we will remain as cynical as we are.

Lance C. Gunnlaugson Kelowna, British Columbia

Using electronic communications is not against the intentions of the Founding Fathers, nor does their use create a substitute direct democracy. Discussion is the strength of democracy, and it is protected by the First Amendment. Increasing discussion and giving ordinary citizens direct input do not take the power of legislation out of the hands of the people's representatives.

Peter Zvagulis Munich

DON'T CALL IT HYPERDEMOCRACY. TODAY'S political scene is mobocracy, with the know-nothings of talk radio in charge. The Fairness Doctrine may give Americans some respite from the cheap, the vulgar, the mean and the ugly, and is our only hope.

Mildred P. Katz Manhattan, Kansas

HOW IRONIC IT WOULD BE IF, AFTER SUCCESSFULLY defending the U.S. from so many outside threats during the past two centuries, we Americans, through our access to easy intercommunication, have acquired the means to irreversibly damage our country.

Skip Snyder Beacon, New York AOL: choclat

THE KINGS OF CALL-IN SHOWS

You ask, ``Is Rush Limbaugh Good for America?'' [Cover Stories, Jan. 23]. You bet! Right down to the bone.

Jim Black Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Rush Limbaugh is as good for us as the secondhand smoke bellowing from his big mouth!

(The Rev.) Keat B. Yeoh Seattle

Is TIME good for America?

Mark S. Rutledge Plano, Texas

The incisive reasoning and insights of Rush Limbaugh are meat and potatoes. You and your ilk have starved the people long enough. Matthew Lanser Beaver Dam, Wisconsin Via America Online

The radio-talk-show crowd generally consists of big mouths and small minds. Put enough of these people together, and you see one of the most frightening things in a free society-- ignorance in action.

Joseph P. Huskins Athens, Georgia

You presuppose that American listeners do not have the intelligence to separate entertainment from the real issues being discussed. For too long the national debate has been controlled by editors, reporters and television personalities. Now Americans have the opportunity to control the debate merely by picking up the telephone. We are empowered to voice our ideas without prepackaging by out-of-touch media.

Dominic J. Cotugno Voorhees, New Jersey

We can always turn off radio or television shows we do not like. Bloated bureaucrats and messianic technocrats have been short-circuiting the Republic for decades.

James Bair Ansonia, Connecticut

YELTSIN'S NASTY WAR

The Russians are going to win the civil war in Chechnya [Russia, Jan. 23]. Interference by other countries would prolong the time before an inevitable Russian victory and cause more deaths.

John Q. Webb Derry, New Hampshire AOL: JQWebb

It's too late for Yeltsin to learn any lessons. Before invading Chechnya, he should have remembered the Soviet defeat in Afghanistan and the fact that it took czarist armies nearly 50 years to subdue the Chechens in the mid-19th century. Yeltsin should seek a humanitarian solution in Chechnya. The Soviet defeat in Afghanistan led to the fall of the Soviet Empire. The invasion of Chechnya could unravel the Russian Federation. And the events in Chechnya raise serious questions about peace. Is the cold war really over?

Ahmed S. Kahn Lombard, Illinois

BADGE OF HONOR?

Thanks to Barbara Ehrenreich for defending the word bitch in relation to Hillary Rodham Clinton [Essay, Jan. 23]. A woman should feel honored when the word is applied to her. It means that she has been assertive and her efforts have not gone unnoticed.

Nancy L. Naugle Auburn, Alabama

Bitch is an insult to Hillary Clinton, who is a brilliant, attractive and feminine First Lady.

Lucy Eerdmans Manchester, New Hampshire

The ticket for Hillary: a firm stance and a cry of ``I am bitch; hear me roar!''

Ben Himes Chesterland, Ohio AOL: HimeyB

PUBLIC TELEVISION'S VALUE

Newt Gingrich, poet laureate of the Yahoos, wants to stop federal funding for Public Broadcasting Services [Television, Jan. 23]. He calls public television a ``sandbox for the rich''--as if Big Bird were watched only by the kids of millionaires. PBS takes only a tiny fraction of the national budget, but this crude man would rather spend money on pet projects like Star Wars.

Richard Jackson New Baltimore, Michigan

TELEVISION'S GREAT POWER TO ENLIGHTEN has been surrendered to the crass hucksterism of commercial television that bombards us daily. PBS is the one bright spot in the vast wasteland. It may be broke, but it sure ain't broken.

Bruce Garver Murrieta, California

SLASHING BLACK AND WHITE

I envy Robert Hughes for the fun he must have had while writing that delightfully pretentious twaddle about the overblown black-and-white chicken scratches of Franz Kline [Art, Jan. 23].

Edward A. Nodiff Philadelphia