Dorothy McBride Stetson
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199242665
- eISBN:
- 9780191600258
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199242666.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The introduction describes in full the comparative politics research design developed by the Research Network on Gender Politics and the State and used to study the role of women's policy agencies as ...
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The introduction describes in full the comparative politics research design developed by the Research Network on Gender Politics and the State and used to study the role of women's policy agencies as allies or adversaries of women's movement activists in influencing abortion policy and politics. The theoretical foundation integrates several theoretical strands: democratic representation, new institutionalism, and social movement impact. The chapter describes the network's theory of state feminism and provides a primer on the comparative method in policy research.Less
The introduction describes in full the comparative politics research design developed by the Research Network on Gender Politics and the State and used to study the role of women's policy agencies as allies or adversaries of women's movement activists in influencing abortion policy and politics. The theoretical foundation integrates several theoretical strands: democratic representation, new institutionalism, and social movement impact. The chapter describes the network's theory of state feminism and provides a primer on the comparative method in policy research.
Dana D. Nelson
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780823268382
- eISBN:
- 9780823272525
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823268382.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, American History: early to 18th Century
Chapter 2 analyses how the consensus narrative reframes localist vernacular democracy in the late eighteenth century through such terms as chaos, lawlessness, and anarchy. Taking up a specific ...
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Chapter 2 analyses how the consensus narrative reframes localist vernacular democracy in the late eighteenth century through such terms as chaos, lawlessness, and anarchy. Taking up a specific historical instance, the Whiskey Rebellion, it studies how key participants fought back against this characterization of local citizen participation. One of those participants, Hugh Henry Brackenridge, transported what he deemed the key political lessons about citizen participation and good self-governance into his novel-in-progress, Modern Chivalry. The chapter studies how that novel theorizes a democratic practice that does not oppose formal government to commons democracy, but instead reimagines a democratic practice in between the two: between the governed and governing, between the representatives and represented, between the vernacular and the institutional, between freedom and despotism, between either and or.Less
Chapter 2 analyses how the consensus narrative reframes localist vernacular democracy in the late eighteenth century through such terms as chaos, lawlessness, and anarchy. Taking up a specific historical instance, the Whiskey Rebellion, it studies how key participants fought back against this characterization of local citizen participation. One of those participants, Hugh Henry Brackenridge, transported what he deemed the key political lessons about citizen participation and good self-governance into his novel-in-progress, Modern Chivalry. The chapter studies how that novel theorizes a democratic practice that does not oppose formal government to commons democracy, but instead reimagines a democratic practice in between the two: between the governed and governing, between the representatives and represented, between the vernacular and the institutional, between freedom and despotism, between either and or.
Scott Mainwaring, Ana María Bejarano, and Eduardo Pizarro Leongómez
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804752787
- eISBN:
- 9780804767910
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804752787.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This introductory chapter discusses the theme of this volume which is about the crisis of democratic representation in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. It explains the concept of the ...
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This introductory chapter discusses the theme of this volume which is about the crisis of democratic representation in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. It explains the concept of the crisis of democratic representation and its manifestations and highlights the intellectual and political importance of studying the crisis of democratic representation in the Andes. This volume explores the factors that affect democratization including party systems, political outsiders, political decentralization and legislatures.Less
This introductory chapter discusses the theme of this volume which is about the crisis of democratic representation in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. It explains the concept of the crisis of democratic representation and its manifestations and highlights the intellectual and political importance of studying the crisis of democratic representation in the Andes. This volume explores the factors that affect democratization including party systems, political outsiders, political decentralization and legislatures.
Scott Mainwaring
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804752787
- eISBN:
- 9780804767910
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804752787.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter addresses the causes of low confidence in political parties and assemblies in the Andes. It argues that state deficiencies and the politicization of these shortcomings by competing ...
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This chapter addresses the causes of low confidence in political parties and assemblies in the Andes. It argues that state deficiencies and the politicization of these shortcomings by competing parties are the primary causes of the crisis of democratic representation and contends that state deficiencies are central to understanding failures of democratic representation well beyond this region. This chapter also investigates why some agents of democratic representation have become discredited in the Andes.Less
This chapter addresses the causes of low confidence in political parties and assemblies in the Andes. It argues that state deficiencies and the politicization of these shortcomings by competing parties are the primary causes of the crisis of democratic representation and contends that state deficiencies are central to understanding failures of democratic representation well beyond this region. This chapter also investigates why some agents of democratic representation have become discredited in the Andes.
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226842783
- eISBN:
- 9780226842806
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226842806.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter sets out the normative guidelines of a democratic theory of representative government, which the ensuing chapters are meant to elucidate. It argues that democratic representation ...
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This chapter sets out the normative guidelines of a democratic theory of representative government, which the ensuing chapters are meant to elucidate. It argues that democratic representation presumes a revision of the notions of both representation and sovereignty. As for the former, the chapter makes three main claims: that representation belongs to the history and practice of democratization; that different theories of representation are possible depending on the relationship between state and society; and that the political theory of representation is consistent with a democratic relation between state and society. As for the latter, it is argued that representation challenges the idea of sovereignty as unrepresentable will by bringing judgment into the politics of the sovereign; this revision is visible through representativity and advocacy, the two basic characters of democratic representation. These are the normative guidelines of representative democracy as an articulated strategy of law formation and surveillance and revocation, and of democratic representation as a middle path between an unconditional delegation and the refusal of any delegation, or between electoral authorization of an aristocracy and direct democracy.Less
This chapter sets out the normative guidelines of a democratic theory of representative government, which the ensuing chapters are meant to elucidate. It argues that democratic representation presumes a revision of the notions of both representation and sovereignty. As for the former, the chapter makes three main claims: that representation belongs to the history and practice of democratization; that different theories of representation are possible depending on the relationship between state and society; and that the political theory of representation is consistent with a democratic relation between state and society. As for the latter, it is argued that representation challenges the idea of sovereignty as unrepresentable will by bringing judgment into the politics of the sovereign; this revision is visible through representativity and advocacy, the two basic characters of democratic representation. These are the normative guidelines of representative democracy as an articulated strategy of law formation and surveillance and revocation, and of democratic representation as a middle path between an unconditional delegation and the refusal of any delegation, or between electoral authorization of an aristocracy and direct democracy.
Darren Halpin
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719076527
- eISBN:
- 9781781701690
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719076527.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
This chapter scrutinizes the dominant lens through which the democratic expectations of groups are viewed. It argues that group scholars have implicitly, but sometimes explicitly, viewed groups as ...
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This chapter scrutinizes the dominant lens through which the democratic expectations of groups are viewed. It argues that group scholars have implicitly, but sometimes explicitly, viewed groups as though they were all engaged in democratic representation. In turn, this has informed expectations that groups should be democratically accountable to their affiliates. Where group practices have not conformed to this picture, this is read as a group deficiency. The orthodox frameworks and lenses used to appraise groups have supported a rather pessimistic view of the potential for groups to be agents of democracy, because they do not practise it themselves. The chapter reviews a range of arguments that seek to weaken or outright challenge this representation account. It concludes that group theory is poorly served by an insistence on a relatively constrained account of representation.Less
This chapter scrutinizes the dominant lens through which the democratic expectations of groups are viewed. It argues that group scholars have implicitly, but sometimes explicitly, viewed groups as though they were all engaged in democratic representation. In turn, this has informed expectations that groups should be democratically accountable to their affiliates. Where group practices have not conformed to this picture, this is read as a group deficiency. The orthodox frameworks and lenses used to appraise groups have supported a rather pessimistic view of the potential for groups to be agents of democracy, because they do not practise it themselves. The chapter reviews a range of arguments that seek to weaken or outright challenge this representation account. It concludes that group theory is poorly served by an insistence on a relatively constrained account of representation.
Darren Halpin
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719076527
- eISBN:
- 9781781701690
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719076527.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
This chapter proposes a supplementary metric to that of representation. It argues that whether a group should enfranchise those that affiliate to it depends on whether they also happen to be the ...
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This chapter proposes a supplementary metric to that of representation. It argues that whether a group should enfranchise those that affiliate to it depends on whether they also happen to be the constituency the group advocates for. Groups that advocate for non-human constituencies cannot enfranchise their constituency, so enfranchising the affiliates of such groups is not necessary for democratic legitimacy. The chapter identifies a framework for identifying those interest groups that are, in principle, capable of representation, and those of solidarity. It also demonstrates why the solidarity/representation distinction is not simply repeating other binary distinctions already in the literature.Less
This chapter proposes a supplementary metric to that of representation. It argues that whether a group should enfranchise those that affiliate to it depends on whether they also happen to be the constituency the group advocates for. Groups that advocate for non-human constituencies cannot enfranchise their constituency, so enfranchising the affiliates of such groups is not necessary for democratic legitimacy. The chapter identifies a framework for identifying those interest groups that are, in principle, capable of representation, and those of solidarity. It also demonstrates why the solidarity/representation distinction is not simply repeating other binary distinctions already in the literature.
Thomas Saalfeld
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197262955
- eISBN:
- 9780191734465
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262955.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter explores the evidence of a mismatch between the perceived importance of democratic, representative EU politics at the German élite level and institutional design as well as political ...
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This chapter explores the evidence of a mismatch between the perceived importance of democratic, representative EU politics at the German élite level and institutional design as well as political behaviour. It investigates the extent to which there has been a gradual process of Europeanization of representation at the institutional and behavioural levels. It examines how this adaptation has been mediated by institutional structures and traditions and why institutional adaptation to the growing quantity and qualitative importance of EU law has been so slow. It asks why German political behaviour in the process of democratic representation has been affected so little by European integration. The emphasis is less on the peculiarities of the EU as a political body than on the way elected politicians respond strategically to these structural constraints.Less
This chapter explores the evidence of a mismatch between the perceived importance of democratic, representative EU politics at the German élite level and institutional design as well as political behaviour. It investigates the extent to which there has been a gradual process of Europeanization of representation at the institutional and behavioural levels. It examines how this adaptation has been mediated by institutional structures and traditions and why institutional adaptation to the growing quantity and qualitative importance of EU law has been so slow. It asks why German political behaviour in the process of democratic representation has been affected so little by European integration. The emphasis is less on the peculiarities of the EU as a political body than on the way elected politicians respond strategically to these structural constraints.
Scott Mainwaring, Ana Maria Bejarano, and Eduardo Pizarro Leongomez (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804752787
- eISBN:
- 9780804767910
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804752787.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The essays in this book analyze and explain the crisis of democratic representation in five Andean countries: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. In this region, disaffection with ...
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The essays in this book analyze and explain the crisis of democratic representation in five Andean countries: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. In this region, disaffection with democracy, political parties, and legislatures has spread to an alarming degree. Many presidents have been forced from office, and many traditional parties have fallen by the wayside. These five countries have the potential to be negative examples in a region that has historically had strong demonstration and diffusion effects in terms of regime changes. The book addresses an important question for Latin America as well as other parts of the world: Why does representation sometimes fail to work?Less
The essays in this book analyze and explain the crisis of democratic representation in five Andean countries: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. In this region, disaffection with democracy, political parties, and legislatures has spread to an alarming degree. Many presidents have been forced from office, and many traditional parties have fallen by the wayside. These five countries have the potential to be negative examples in a region that has historically had strong demonstration and diffusion effects in terms of regime changes. The book addresses an important question for Latin America as well as other parts of the world: Why does representation sometimes fail to work?
James Lindley Wilson
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691190914
- eISBN:
- 9780691194141
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691190914.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This chapter describes what appropriate consideration requires in terms of what are often called “aggregative” procedures—procedures for aggregating citizens' judgments into common decisions, such as ...
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This chapter describes what appropriate consideration requires in terms of what are often called “aggregative” procedures—procedures for aggregating citizens' judgments into common decisions, such as the selection of representatives. These procedures also include processes of election and voting on laws. Among other things, these requirements entail a shift in how people think about the responsibilities of representatives. Democratic representation requires an egalitarian synthesis of citizens' judgments, which is complicated by the fact that citizens render judgments at different levels of specificity. Citizens themselves differ as to how much discretion their representatives ought to have, and this disagreement should be reflected in representation. The chapter then argues that aggregative procedures must satisfy an “antidegradation” requirement that precludes rules and procedures that express or reflect a judgment that some citizen or citizens occupy an inferior political status. This is a kind of antidiscrimination rule for political decision-making institutions.Less
This chapter describes what appropriate consideration requires in terms of what are often called “aggregative” procedures—procedures for aggregating citizens' judgments into common decisions, such as the selection of representatives. These procedures also include processes of election and voting on laws. Among other things, these requirements entail a shift in how people think about the responsibilities of representatives. Democratic representation requires an egalitarian synthesis of citizens' judgments, which is complicated by the fact that citizens render judgments at different levels of specificity. Citizens themselves differ as to how much discretion their representatives ought to have, and this disagreement should be reflected in representation. The chapter then argues that aggregative procedures must satisfy an “antidegradation” requirement that precludes rules and procedures that express or reflect a judgment that some citizen or citizens occupy an inferior political status. This is a kind of antidiscrimination rule for political decision-making institutions.
Dario Castiglione and Johannes Pollak (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780226588360
- eISBN:
- 9780226588674
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226588674.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
For at least two centuries, democratic representation and how it should work has been at the center of many disputes. Representative democracy itself, though arguably the dominant political form of ...
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For at least two centuries, democratic representation and how it should work has been at the center of many disputes. Representative democracy itself, though arguably the dominant political form of constitutional states, remains a frequent focus of contestation, regarded as incapable of reflecting the will of the masses, or inadequate in today’s global governance. This view of democratic representation, based on a reflective and responsive mode, has lately been under attack for its failure to capture the performative and constructive elements of the process of representation. By contrast, the new literature is more attentive to the dynamic and mutually constructive aspects of the relationship between represented and representatives. In this book, a group of international scholars explores the implications of such a turn and the sense in which democratic representation needs the creation of political presence, as discussed in the opening essay. Two broad, overlapping perspectives emerge in the rest of the book. In the first section, the contributions investigate how political representation relates to empowerment, either facilitating or interfering with the capacity of citizens to develop autonomous judgment in collective decision making. Contributions in the second section look at representation from the perspective of inclusion, focusing on how representative relationships and claims articulate the demands of those who are excluded or have no voice. The final section examines political representation from a more systemic perspective, exploring its broader environmental conditions and the way it acquires democratic legitimacy.Less
For at least two centuries, democratic representation and how it should work has been at the center of many disputes. Representative democracy itself, though arguably the dominant political form of constitutional states, remains a frequent focus of contestation, regarded as incapable of reflecting the will of the masses, or inadequate in today’s global governance. This view of democratic representation, based on a reflective and responsive mode, has lately been under attack for its failure to capture the performative and constructive elements of the process of representation. By contrast, the new literature is more attentive to the dynamic and mutually constructive aspects of the relationship between represented and representatives. In this book, a group of international scholars explores the implications of such a turn and the sense in which democratic representation needs the creation of political presence, as discussed in the opening essay. Two broad, overlapping perspectives emerge in the rest of the book. In the first section, the contributions investigate how political representation relates to empowerment, either facilitating or interfering with the capacity of citizens to develop autonomous judgment in collective decision making. Contributions in the second section look at representation from the perspective of inclusion, focusing on how representative relationships and claims articulate the demands of those who are excluded or have no voice. The final section examines political representation from a more systemic perspective, exploring its broader environmental conditions and the way it acquires democratic legitimacy.
Paul M. Sniderman and Benjamin Highton (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691151106
- eISBN:
- 9781400840304
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691151106.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
Citizens are political simpletons—that is only a modest exaggeration of a common characterization of voters. Certainly, there is no shortage of evidence of citizens' limited political knowledge, even ...
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Citizens are political simpletons—that is only a modest exaggeration of a common characterization of voters. Certainly, there is no shortage of evidence of citizens' limited political knowledge, even about matters of the highest importance, along with inconsistencies in their thinking, some glaring by any standard. But this picture of citizens all too often approaches caricature. This book brings together leading political scientists who offer new insights into the political thinking of the public, the causes of party polarization, the motivations for political participation, and the paradoxical relationship between turnout and democratic representation. These studies propel a foundational argument about democracy. Voters can only do as well as the alternatives on offer. These alternatives are constrained by third players, in particular activists, interest groups, and financial contributors. The result: voters often appear to be shortsighted, extreme, and inconsistent because the alternatives they must choose between are shortsighted, extreme, and inconsistent.Less
Citizens are political simpletons—that is only a modest exaggeration of a common characterization of voters. Certainly, there is no shortage of evidence of citizens' limited political knowledge, even about matters of the highest importance, along with inconsistencies in their thinking, some glaring by any standard. But this picture of citizens all too often approaches caricature. This book brings together leading political scientists who offer new insights into the political thinking of the public, the causes of party polarization, the motivations for political participation, and the paradoxical relationship between turnout and democratic representation. These studies propel a foundational argument about democracy. Voters can only do as well as the alternatives on offer. These alternatives are constrained by third players, in particular activists, interest groups, and financial contributors. The result: voters often appear to be shortsighted, extreme, and inconsistent because the alternatives they must choose between are shortsighted, extreme, and inconsistent.
Mark B. Brown
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262013246
- eISBN:
- 9780262258647
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262013246.003.0072
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
This chapter discusses the importance of liberal rationalism, which illustrates the historical developments in science and politics. The current study suggests a framework for examining the purposes ...
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This chapter discusses the importance of liberal rationalism, which illustrates the historical developments in science and politics. The current study suggests a framework for examining the purposes of different institutions in view of their distinctive modes and elements of representation. Studies of different scholars and their writings on the concept of democratic representation and its elements — authorization, accountability, participation, deliberation, and resemblance — are discussed. One of the important studies of these elements is by Hanna Pitkin. The role of public officials and state and government authorities in democratic representation is also discussed, and the practices of science and politics are explored, including the institutions that normally contribute to democratic representation.Less
This chapter discusses the importance of liberal rationalism, which illustrates the historical developments in science and politics. The current study suggests a framework for examining the purposes of different institutions in view of their distinctive modes and elements of representation. Studies of different scholars and their writings on the concept of democratic representation and its elements — authorization, accountability, participation, deliberation, and resemblance — are discussed. One of the important studies of these elements is by Hanna Pitkin. The role of public officials and state and government authorities in democratic representation is also discussed, and the practices of science and politics are explored, including the institutions that normally contribute to democratic representation.
Joseph Lacey
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198796886
- eISBN:
- 9780191838576
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198796886.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization, Comparative Politics
This chapter aims to understand the role of political representation in a theory of democratic legitimacy. Drawing on contemporary theories of political representation, the chapter attempts to ...
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This chapter aims to understand the role of political representation in a theory of democratic legitimacy. Drawing on contemporary theories of political representation, the chapter attempts to determine what makes acts of political representation democratically legitimate, while identifying the possible ways in which democracy can go wrong through certain kinds of representative practices. This account of legitimate democratic representation suggests that numerous aspects of a well-functioning democracy can lead to more than just the resolution of social conflict, specifically by contributing to the formation of a common democratic identity among members of the political community. By the end of this chapter, a central contention of this project will become clear, namely that the institutionalization of democratic legitimacy will produce powerful centripetal effects on the political community.Less
This chapter aims to understand the role of political representation in a theory of democratic legitimacy. Drawing on contemporary theories of political representation, the chapter attempts to determine what makes acts of political representation democratically legitimate, while identifying the possible ways in which democracy can go wrong through certain kinds of representative practices. This account of legitimate democratic representation suggests that numerous aspects of a well-functioning democracy can lead to more than just the resolution of social conflict, specifically by contributing to the formation of a common democratic identity among members of the political community. By the end of this chapter, a central contention of this project will become clear, namely that the institutionalization of democratic legitimacy will produce powerful centripetal effects on the political community.
Darren Halpin
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719076527
- eISBN:
- 9781781701690
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719076527.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
This chapter establishes how the solidarity versus representation distinction can be applied to empirical cases. Moreover, it illustrates that while the conceptual categories have some currency in ...
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This chapter establishes how the solidarity versus representation distinction can be applied to empirical cases. Moreover, it illustrates that while the conceptual categories have some currency in practice, there is not always direct conformance between the democratic promise of groups and their practices. These are scholarly categories that help us calibrate our expectations better, and with more clarity. But this is not the same as suggesting groups will or do in fact meet these expectations.Less
This chapter establishes how the solidarity versus representation distinction can be applied to empirical cases. Moreover, it illustrates that while the conceptual categories have some currency in practice, there is not always direct conformance between the democratic promise of groups and their practices. These are scholarly categories that help us calibrate our expectations better, and with more clarity. But this is not the same as suggesting groups will or do in fact meet these expectations.
Michael Saward
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780226588360
- eISBN:
- 9780226588674
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226588674.003.0013
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Representation’s liminal qualities make it difficult to sustain a number of common distinctions that have been central to the study of the concept. After elaborating on the idea of liminality and ...
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Representation’s liminal qualities make it difficult to sustain a number of common distinctions that have been central to the study of the concept. After elaborating on the idea of liminality and defending an understanding of representation as practice, the chapter focuses critically on four distinctions: elective and nonelective; formal and informal; institutional and noninstitutional; descriptive and normative. Such distinctions are often deployed to map conceptually the field of political representation, drawing out the latter’s transitional or intermediate character. In the chapter, it is argued that we can productively embrace representation’s liminality, developing fruitful analyses which track its changeable character. Finally, the chapter shows how these critiques can contribute to an encompassing distinction between representative democracy and democratic representation, arguing that the former – often the sole focus of debates on representation – is but one (crucial) part of the latter.Less
Representation’s liminal qualities make it difficult to sustain a number of common distinctions that have been central to the study of the concept. After elaborating on the idea of liminality and defending an understanding of representation as practice, the chapter focuses critically on four distinctions: elective and nonelective; formal and informal; institutional and noninstitutional; descriptive and normative. Such distinctions are often deployed to map conceptually the field of political representation, drawing out the latter’s transitional or intermediate character. In the chapter, it is argued that we can productively embrace representation’s liminality, developing fruitful analyses which track its changeable character. Finally, the chapter shows how these critiques can contribute to an encompassing distinction between representative democracy and democratic representation, arguing that the former – often the sole focus of debates on representation – is but one (crucial) part of the latter.
Lisa Disch, Mathijs van de Sande, and Nadia Urbinati (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781474442602
- eISBN:
- 9781474459860
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474442602.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This is the first edited volume to provide a comprehensive introduction and a critical exploration of the constructivist turn in political representation. Divided into three thematic parts, the 13 ...
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This is the first edited volume to provide a comprehensive introduction and a critical exploration of the constructivist turn in political representation. Divided into three thematic parts, the 13 newly commissioned essays presented here develop constructivist turn as a central concept advancing the insight that there can be no democratic politics without representation because constituencies, or groups, exist as agents of democratic politics only insofar as they are represented. Complete with an original English translation of ‘Democracy and Representation’ by the French philosopher Claude Lefort, this volume delivers a rich critical intervention in democratic theory.Less
This is the first edited volume to provide a comprehensive introduction and a critical exploration of the constructivist turn in political representation. Divided into three thematic parts, the 13 newly commissioned essays presented here develop constructivist turn as a central concept advancing the insight that there can be no democratic politics without representation because constituencies, or groups, exist as agents of democratic politics only insofar as they are represented. Complete with an original English translation of ‘Democracy and Representation’ by the French philosopher Claude Lefort, this volume delivers a rich critical intervention in democratic theory.
Kathleen O'neill
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804752787
- eISBN:
- 9780804767910
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804752787.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter investigates the relationship between decentralizing reforms, political parties and political representation in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. It analyzes changes in the ...
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This chapter investigates the relationship between decentralizing reforms, political parties and political representation in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. It analyzes changes in the intergovernmental distribution of power which affects democratic representation by allowing for (or not) the election of representatives at the local and state level and evaluates whether improvements in representation at the local level offset serious deficiencies at the national level. The analysis indicates that the relationship between decentralization and political representation varies significantly across countries and over time within countries and that the effects of decentralization on political representation are experienced locally.Less
This chapter investigates the relationship between decentralizing reforms, political parties and political representation in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. It analyzes changes in the intergovernmental distribution of power which affects democratic representation by allowing for (or not) the election of representatives at the local and state level and evaluates whether improvements in representation at the local level offset serious deficiencies at the national level. The analysis indicates that the relationship between decentralization and political representation varies significantly across countries and over time within countries and that the effects of decentralization on political representation are experienced locally.
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226842783
- eISBN:
- 9780226842806
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226842806.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter analyzes the first comprehensive proposal of democratic representation as a norm of good government. The goal of Condorcet's constitutional plan was to regulate the creation of authority ...
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This chapter analyzes the first comprehensive proposal of democratic representation as a norm of good government. The goal of Condorcet's constitutional plan was to regulate the creation of authority “from the bottom up” by means of a flexible and permanent relationship between participation and representation. The plan's aim was to prevent the “despotism” of the representative assembly, on the one hand, and the random fluctuation of the people between a state of depoliticized apathy and a state of extralegal mobilization, on the other.Less
This chapter analyzes the first comprehensive proposal of democratic representation as a norm of good government. The goal of Condorcet's constitutional plan was to regulate the creation of authority “from the bottom up” by means of a flexible and permanent relationship between participation and representation. The plan's aim was to prevent the “despotism” of the representative assembly, on the one hand, and the random fluctuation of the people between a state of depoliticized apathy and a state of extralegal mobilization, on the other.
Martín Tanaka
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804752787
- eISBN:
- 9780804767910
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804752787.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter examines the role of the party systems collapse on the crisis of democratic representation in Peru and Venezuela. It explains that Alberto Fujimori and Hugo Chávez dismantled the ...
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This chapter examines the role of the party systems collapse on the crisis of democratic representation in Peru and Venezuela. It explains that Alberto Fujimori and Hugo Chávez dismantled the preexisting political order through institutional reforms and established competitive authoritarian regimes in which democratic representation was replaced by plebiscitarian mechanisms of legitimation. This chapter also highlights the challenges for the countries in rebuilding state institutions with weakened political and social actors and in constructing a new system of democratic representation that is pluralistic and participatory.Less
This chapter examines the role of the party systems collapse on the crisis of democratic representation in Peru and Venezuela. It explains that Alberto Fujimori and Hugo Chávez dismantled the preexisting political order through institutional reforms and established competitive authoritarian regimes in which democratic representation was replaced by plebiscitarian mechanisms of legitimation. This chapter also highlights the challenges for the countries in rebuilding state institutions with weakened political and social actors and in constructing a new system of democratic representation that is pluralistic and participatory.
