A republic is only more desirable than a democracy if the representatives are actually unprejudiced and educated on the will of the people. The Arkansas House of Representatives is failing our state in a big way. Representatives like Repesentative Jim Dobson of District 93 (Bentonville), have placed on priority on issues like:

HB1329 which reduces the fee to obtain a Concealed Carry License.
SB2 Voter ID laws (a problem that is nonexistent in Arkansas).
HB1408 an Open Carry Bill
HB1243 which allows trained faculty to carry a handgun on a college campus.
SB71 the “Church Carry” act.
SB 134 the Arkansas Human Heartbeat Protection Act which is now the strictest in the nation.

Now, some of these might seem like issues worth supporting. The problem I run into is trying to justify the precedence of these issues before several others that plague Arkansans every day. Issues such as:

Hunger Relief.
18.8% of Arkansans live below the poverty line and can't afford enough food to eat. Arkansas' childhood poverty rate is 27.6% compared to the national average of 21.6% - ACS Survey. 18.6% of households in Arkansas are Food Insecure – USDA survey

Education.
The state received a ranking of a “C” and a ranking of 26th for school finance; a C-minus and a ranking of 42nd for students’ chance of success in life; and a D and a ranking of 34th for K-12 student achievement. –ALEC

Health.
United Health Foundation ranks Arkansas 48th in overall health. The health study found Arkansans had a high rate of smoking, children in poverty and obesity and sedentary lifestyle.

Childless adults, no matter how poor, are not currently eligible for Medicaid in the state. If you're an individual without kids and no income, or make less than $11,000, there will be no coverage if the state turns down expansion. – part of a great article in The Arkansas Times discussing our dire healthcare problems that can be found at http://www.arktimes.com/arkansas/arkansass-working-poor-are-hoping-the-state-says-yes-to-expansion/Content?oid=2731753

Poverty.
More than 25,000 children are suffering from poverty in Benton and Washington counties. In Washington County the child poverty rate is now higher than the state average. More than 28 percent of children in Washington County live in poverty. There are more kids who live in poverty in Benton County than any county in the Arkansas delta. - AACF

Happiness.
Arkansas is one of five states that have ranked at the bottom of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index since 2008.

For the "pro-life" champions that  are pleased with the path the new state legislature is taking, I offer you some statistics. According to The Arkansas Democrat Gazette the new 12 week ban will help eliminate 1 in 5 abortions that are conducted in Arkansas. If you truly want to see a dramatic reduction in these numbers we need to invest in sex education.

The Netherlands, where sex education begins in preschool and is integrated into all levels and subjects of schooling, boasts one of the lowest teen birthrates in the world — 5.3 per 1,000 women aged 15–19 — a rate six and a half times lower than that of the U.S. (Berne & Huberman, 1999; United Nations, 2011).  Likewise, the Dutch teenage abortion rate is three times lower than that of the U.S., and its HIV prevalence
rate is three times lower (Ferguson et al., 2008; UNAIDS, 2011).
In Germany, where sex education is comprehensive and targeted to meet the reading and developmental needs of the students, the teenage birthrate is three and a half times times lower than that of the U.S.; its teenage abortion rate is about five times lower; and its HIV prevalence rate is six times lower (Destatis, 2009; UNAIDS, 2011; United Nations, 2011).

But don't expect our state legislature to advocate sex education as Representative Jason Rapert plans to cut the funding for such education. Until our state is above the slut shaming/abstinence only rhetoric that has been outdated since 1850 when Hawthorne published "The Scarlet Letter", don't expect to see much improvement.

I urge you to contact your representative using this link (http://www.geostor.arkansas.gov/G6/Viewer.html) and help our state republic become something that actually represents the people. Be warned though, if your representative is anything like Jim Dotson, don’t expect them to be thrilled to hear your opinion or a prompt/non-generic response.