Suchergebnisse

Modern Time – the period from 1500 to 1800 – began by adding to political thought the notion of sovereignty and ended by enriching it with what is nowadays understood as political representation. These two notions have traditionally been seen as the two pillars supporting both modern democracy and our conviction that popular sovereignty is what makes our contemporary democracies into the best political system ever conceived. However, the big problem is that sovereignty and political representation are hard to reconcile with each other: the relationship between the two of them is much like that between the two partners in a marriage permanently on the verge of divorce. This essay tries to explain why this is so and why Rousseau was basically right when intimating as much already in his Du Contrat Social. It does so by considering the relevant aspects in the history of political thought from the Middle Ages down to the so-called doctrinaire liberals of the beginning of the 19th century. Doing so compels us to recognize a basic inconsistency at the very heart of our modern democracies and its nasty consequences for the position of the people's representatives.

Applies a Schumpterian theory of leader democracy to the issue of leadership in a representative democracy. Leader democracy is compared to deliberative & aggregative-utilitarian models for democracy, exploring the meaning of representation in each one. Five key characteristics of leader democracy are delineated in terms of (1) the relationship between representatives & the represented; (2) the subject of representation; (3) the concept of knowledge & the role of discussion; (4) the role of political action; & (5) the notion of qualitative representation. 2 Tables. J. Zendejas

This study analyses the degree to which Portuguese parties represent their electorates. In this instance, representation is measured by the degree of congruence between those who vote and those who are elected. The analysis has two dimensions: ideological positioning and attitudes towards democracy. On the first dimension, it appears that, compared to the voters, the parliamentary elite is ideologically more extreme. On the second dimension, one finds that elites are more favourable towards democracy than the electorates they represent.

This article provides an in-depth survey of political representation in Liquid Democracy (LD). More precisely, it refutes two potential criticisms: 1) LD impoverishes the concept of political representation relative to existing representative democracies; 2) LD undermines the centrality of political parties. In answer to (1), the article shows that LD is compatible with a selection model of representation, in which proxies are characterized as gyroscopic representatives, driven by intrinsic motivation and indifferent to sanctions. This claim has far-reaching normative implications for the mandate-independence tradeoff, anti-elitism, and deliberation under LD. With regard to (2), the article examines the function of parties, arguing that, although it puts parties and interest groups on a level playing field, LD does not threaten partisanship, but rather expands the range of potential carriers of partisanship. In addressing these objections, this article demonstrates the democratic credentials of LD, showing that LD is compatible with a high-quality, democratic understanding of representation, which is surrounded by a cluster of thick concepts like commitment, intrinsic motivation, alignment of objectives, sympathy, trust, and dialogue. This turns LD into a powerful instrument for the refurbishment of representation both as a unique mode of political participation and as a practice of self-government.

Cover -- Contents -- Introduction -- Chapter I: Axiological and Teleological Assumptions of Representation -- 1. Representative Versus Direct Democracy -- 2. Accountability: Necessary Prerequisite of Representation -- 3. Crisis of Representative Democracy -- 4. Entropy of Representation: Teleological Source of Crisis -- Chapter II: Theoretical Concepts of Representation -- 1. The "Principium": Philosophical Concept of Representation -- 2. The "Meritum": Juridical Concept of Representation -- 3.  The "Accessorium": Sociological Interpretation of Representation -- 4. Conjunction: Representation as a Correlation -- 5. Limits of Representation: Forms and Means of Correlation -- Chapter III: Historical and Doctrinal Embodiments of Representation -- 1. Multivariant Applications of the Idea of Representation -- 2. The French Concept of Political Representation -- 3. The English Idea of Representation -- 4. Andrew Heywood's Retrospective Model of Representation -- 5. Other Diachronic Models and Scenarios of Representation -- Chapter IV: Constitutional Expression of Representation -- 1. The Content of the Constitutional Principle of Representation: "Rei Compertae" -- 2. The Sense of the Constitutional Principle of Representation -- 3. The Constitutional Expression of the Principle of Representation -- 4. Methods of Construing the Principle of Representation: "Rei Dubiae" -- 5. Legal Effects of the Constitutional Principle of Political Representation -- Chapter V: Representation and Interests -- 1. Representation as Aggregation and Articulation of Interests -- 2. Political vs. Functional Representation -- 3. Ethics in the Conduct of a Representative as a Politician -- 4. Legal Framework of a Representative's Ethics: Representative Mandate -- 5. Political Framework of a Representative's Ethics: Ties with Subgroup or Party

Unless federation and political representation are developed in metropolitan areas, compartmentalization of local government and fragmentation of public administration will continue. The unmistakable characteristics of American metropolitan areas make them easy to spot: dense populations, urban in nature; industrial and commercial resources; one or more central cities producing the mononucleated or polynucleated pattern; economic and social interconnections maintained by a daily inflow and outflow of traffic. The web of economic and social structure is, however, by no means equalled by political interconnections. The governmental services required by the people living in the area are either unresolved in their metropolitan aspects or are administered by authorities which are often autonomous and remote from coordinated control. Area-wide government to establish policy for the metropolitan population in its unanimity of need and interest is lacking. No political power is in existence to administer the metropolitan aspects of functions. Metropolitan government as such does not exist; it is a concept and possibly a tentative approach. So far, it is no more than that. Still less in esse is metropolitan self-government.

▪ Abstract  Two large research programs have analyzed election-based connections between citizens and policy makers in different democracies. Studies of vote-seat representation in the tradition of Rae (1967) begin with citizens' party votes and have made substantial progress in elucidating the impact of election laws, geographic vote distributions, and the number of parties and their interactions on the proportionality of party representation. Studies of substantive representation in the tradition of Miller & Stokes (1963) begin with citizen issue preferences and link these to the positions of their representatives. Most studies outside the United States, confronting multimember districts and the cohesion of party representatives, have focused on voter-party dyads rather than geographic constituencies, and confirmed the importance of issues linked to a common electoral discourse and the greater structure of legislator issue positions. Recently, a number of explicitly comparative analyses have begun to analyze collective correspondence and confront other limitations of the literature.

AbstractThe essay focuses on the neglected problem of democratic politics, i.e. on the role of leadership. Although in democracies public office holders are controlled to a certain extent, leaders still have wide room for political manoeuvre and decide without any 'instruction' of the citizens. Re-working Weber's and Schumpeter's theory, the author aims to build the model of leader democracy. He highlights the major traits of it in a comparison with the deliberative and the aggregative–utilitarian concepts of democratic theory. The theory of leader democracy is applied to the problem of representation, which, in contrast to mechanical mirroring, gains a new, dynamic and qualitative meaning.

AbstractDespite long-standing academic interest in Indigenous peoples and the Canadian state, there has been little study of Indigenous elected officials as representational actors. We ask: What are the distinctively Indigenous forms of representation practised by Indigenous elected officials in Canada? And how does clarifying the role of Indigenous elected officials as representatives both contribute to and enhance our overall understanding of Indigenous politics, governance and sovereignty? We draw on the existing literatures on substantive representation as well as original interviews conducted with current and former Indigenous elected officials to develop an original conceptualization of Indigenous representation. These actors differ in their perceptions of themselves and their roles as representatives, the representational behaviours they engage in and the outcomes they seek. Our conceptualization of Indigenous representation engages with four themes: Indigenous perspective, Indigenous advocacy, balance with other imperatives including constituency representation and party discipline, and Indigenous nationhood.

This chapter aims to present a theoretical survey of political representation of future generations. The chapter focuses on two main normative justifications of representation of future generations. The first appeals to intergenerational justice and the second to democratic legitimacy. Then, the chapter addresses possible objections to the representation of future generations. These objections are: first, we should prevent the inflation of representation; second, representation of future people is not really political representation; third, representation of future people is unnecessary. The next part discusses theoretical proposals to represent future generations in existing institutions. An appendix provides an overview of past and present real-world experiments, including the Finnish Committee for the Future, the Israeli Knesset Commissioner for Future Generations (2001–2006) and the Hungarian Ombudsman for Future Generations.

This chapter aims to present a theoretical survey of political representation of future generations. The chapter focuses on two main normative justifications of representation of future generations. The first appeals to intergenerational justice and the second to democratic legitimacy. Then, the chapter addresses possible objections to the representation of future generations. These objections are: first, we should prevent the inflation of representation; second, representation of future people is not really political representation; third, representation of future people is unnecessary. The next part discusses theoretical proposals to represent future generations in existing institutions. An appendix provides an overview of past and present real-world experiments, including the Finnish Committee for the Future, the Israeli Knesset Commissioner for Future Generations (2001–2006) and the Hungarian Ombudsman for Future Generations.