The Trace of Political Representation is a philosophical analysis of the discourses, practices, and effects of representation in political institutions, with an ultimate interest in contemporary American democracy. The perspective governing its approach is derived largely from Foucault, and tempered by a range of contemporary philosophers, including Derrida, Pitkin, and Castoriadis.
Draws from political science, history, political theory, economics, and anthropology to answer the most important questions about political representation.
This book examines the nature of representation in democracy, focusing specifically on the factors shaping constituent evaluations of the US House Representatives and the resulting implications for government.
"This book discusses the theories of the leading writers on representation, including Burke, Bentham and the two Mills in England, Madison and Calhoun in America and the Abbé Sieyès in France. It examines the relationship between ideas which emphasize the representation of interests (whether these be of individuals, sections or classes) and ideas which emphasize the representation of opinion (whether these be of individuals, groups or parties). It also examines the results of recent empirical research on the representative process and discusses the extent to which these findings support or undermine the theories of earlier writers. Finally, the book discusses the functions of political representation under eight headings, in a way which lays the foundation for a value-free analysis of the nature of representative relationships and processes"--Jacket.
How have the political parties of the liberal democratic states responded to women's demands for political representation? To answer this question, the authors examine 11 democratic states, relating what has happened to theories of representation and gender politics. They trace developments in party systems as political parties have implemented new systems of candidate selection, new means of policymaking, the reform of internal structures and the establishment of new structures. The interaction between gender and party politics is shown to be of direct importance to the understanding of the political status of women. This is the only source of its kind on this important topic and makes a valuable contribution to the litera
In virtually every democratic nation in the world, political representation is defined by where citizens live. In the United States, for example, Congressional Districts are drawn every 10 years as lines on a map. Why do democratic governments define political representation this way? Are territorial electoral constituencies commensurate with basic principles of democratic legitimacy? And why might our commitments to these principles lead us to endorse a radical alternative: randomly assigning citizens to permanent, single-member electoral constituencies that each looks like the nation they collectively represent? Using the case of the founding period of the United States as an illustration, and drawing from classic sources in Western political theory, this book describes the conceptual, historical, and normative features of the electoral constituency. As an institution conceptually separate from the casting of votes, the electoral constituency is little studied. Its historical origins are often incorrectly described. And as a normative matter, the constituency is almost completely ignored. Raising these conceptual, historical and normative issues, the argument culminates with a novel thought experiment of imagining how politics might change under randomized, permanent, national electoral constituencies. By focusing on how citizens are formally defined for the purpose of political representation, The Concept of Constituency thus offers a novel approach to the central problems of political representation, democratic legitimacy, and institutional design.
This volume traces the roots of the constructivist turn in the distinct (and competing) traditions of Continental and Anglo-American Western political thought. Divided into three thematic parts, these 13 newly commissioned essays develop the constructivist turn as a central concept. They advance the insight that there can be no democratic politics without representation; constituencies or groups exist as agents of democratic politics only insofar as they are represented.
