Q & A Sessions

As I watched Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin field questions from the American public (front page, Sept. 6), in a frank and provocative live telecast, one disheartening thought presented itself to me: that our own President, leader of the free world, has never and will surely never in all his terms in office lend himself to such an exchange with his own constituents.

Would not democracy be enriched by requiring this of every elected representative? To hold frequent, live, unrehearsed question-and-answer sessions with the citizens who put them in office?

What better way for a politician to learn what most concerns the people he or she represents, and what better way for the people to regain the spirit of participation in a democracy? This challenge may prove too threatening for most incumbents out there; perhaps next year’s election campaigns would be an appropriate time to start a new democratic tradition. I only hope we don’t have to wait for another superpower collapse to see it.

EARL J. BEADLE, Altadena