Political Representation

On Political Representation

by Emmanuel Sigalas

Raspail, une candidature impossible

by Samuel Hayat

Rethinking Populism: Populism as a Political Style

by Benjamin Moffitt

Presented at Australian Political Studies Association Conference, Old Parliament House, Canberra, 26-28 September 2011.

Recent events such as the unexpected return of Pauline Hanson, the rise of the Tea Party, and the continued success of... more Recent events such as the unexpected return of Pauline Hanson, the rise of the Tea Party, and the continued success of Hugo Chávez has meant that populism has enjoyed a resurgence in the fields of political theory and comparative politics over the past decade, moving from a topic of near obscurity to become one of political studies’ central – and most contentious – issues. Yet the very idea of populism remains hazy, with dominant conceptualisations of populism – as ideology, logic, discourse or strategy – often attempting to fit a square peg in a round hole, and failing to capture the specificity of the phenomenon.

As such, this paper argues that thinking of populism as a ‘political style’ presents a way out of interminable debates around the term, and offers a conceptualisation that is amenable to both theoretical development and empirical analysis. To do so, it firstly considers the strengths and weaknesses of current theoretical approaches to populism, before developing the concept of ‘political style’ by drawing on the work of Frank Ankersmit, Robert Hariman and Judith Butler. In the process, it explores the central role of performance within political styles, asks what it actually means to speak on behalf of ‘the people’, and explores the aesthetic and relational elements of populism. It will further draw on empirical examples across the globe to demonstrate that such a concept allows us to understand how populism appears across the political spectrum, as well as how it translates into the political mainstream.

Speaking for the People: Contemporary Populism & Representation

by Benjamin Moffitt

Presented at 'Representation and Its Discontents’, Sydney Democracy Initiative Symposium, University of Sydney, February 24-25, 2011.

"Democracia y representación"

by Ana Marta González

Persona y Derecho: Revista de fundamentación de las Instituciones Jurídicas y de Derechos Humanos, vol. 52, pp. 237-265, 2005. ISSN 0211-4526

"Democracia y representación"

by Ana Marta González

Persona y Derecho: Revista de fundamentación de las Instituciones Jurídicas y de Derechos Humanos, vol. 52, pp. 237-265, 2005. ISSN 0211-4526

Un análisis del efecto de la Ley de igualdad en la representación electoral, parlamentaria y en el comportamiento electoral de las mujeres en las elecciones generales de 2008

by Álvaro Martínez Pérez

Co-authored with Kerman Calvo
Piblished in Estudios de Progreso series, Fundación Alternativas, 2010

Theories of Democracy, Representation, and the Case Against Judicial Review

by Jens Olesen

Paper to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association (APSA), as part of the panel “Deliberation. What Else?”, organized by Dr Giulia Sissa (UCLA), chaired by Dr John Erik Fossum (ARENA, Oslo); New Orleans, LA, 30 August- 2 September 2012.

Reconstituting Political Representation in the EU: The analytical framework and the operationalisation of the RECON models

by Emmanuel Sigalas

Minority Political Participation at the Local Level: The Roma

by Miro Hacek

Co-authored with Irena Bačlija
Published in International Journal on Minority and Group Rights 19 (2012) 53–68

This article aims to study the existing models of political representation of the Roma minority in Slovenia. The... more This article aims to study the existing models of political representation of the Roma minority in Slovenia. The research analyses two existing models of political participation, namely, the political representation model employed in 2002 and the policy formation model introduced in 2007. As the state is limited in securing adequate representation of minority groups in an electoral democ- racy, conditions for minorities to have equal opportunity and to be effectively involved in public life must be created. This can be achieved with representation in advisory and decision-making institu- tions such as elected bodies and assemblies of national minority affairs; local and autonomous levels of administration; self-administration by a national minority in aspects concerning its identity, especially in circumstances where autonomy on a territorial basis does not apply; and decentralised or local forms of government. Based on surveys conducted in 2004 and 2008 we have tried to identify trends in the performance of the political representation model. The research work has made some interesting findings with regard to the relationship between the two models. It appears that the political representation model acts as a platform for positive change while the policy forma- tion model is a source of conflict among Roma representatives.

Representation in the appointed state: the case of councillors in the West Midlands Regional Assembly.

by Thom Oliver

Oliver, Thomas Charles Gordon (2011)
Ph.D. thesis, University of Birmingham.

The rise of indirectly elected institutions, such as the West Midlands Regional Assembly, has democratic implications... more The rise of indirectly elected institutions, such as the West Midlands Regional Assembly, has democratic implications for notions of accountability, legitimacy and representation. The representative function of these bodies must be explicitly fulfilled if they are to be considered democratic. The conceptual focus of this thesis is the representative function of members of the West Midlands Regional Assembly. The analysis applies a representative role framework based on Pitkin’s “Four Views of Representation” to explore the formalistic and substantive elements of representation through an appraisal of focus, style, role and scope. The results show that there are weak accountability structures in place, leading representatives to adopt a trustee conception of their roles. A grounded theory analysis is utilised to explore additional factors not covered in Pitkin’s framework. This surfaced the structural factors and role motivations that affect role choice. The thesis utilises Weick’s concept of sensemaking to explore the interpretation and enactment of different representative roles taking into account the importance of institutions in framing micro sensemaking processes. This new methodology permits an appraisal of the relative influence of institutional context, structure and individual agency and delivers a new model for understanding the logics of representative action in appointed bodies.

Virtual representation: Australian elected representatives and the impact of the internet

by Peter John Chen

Chen, P, 2002, "Virtual representation: Australian elected representatives and the impact of the internet", The Journal of Information, Law and Technology, 2002(3)

This paper examines the impact of the Internet, specifically the World Wide Web and electronic mail on Australian... more This paper examines the impact of the Internet, specifically the World Wide Web and electronic mail on Australian elected representatives in three key areas: (1) representatives' use of Internet technology as part of the work lives: to what extent
has the technology been adopted by these public functionaries? (2) online consultation: have representatives adapted Internet technologies for the purpose of democratic communication with their constituents and stakeholders? And (3) online voting: do representatives see value in 'virtualising' traditional voting practices? Based on a survey issued to every elected representative in Australia, data is presented to illustrate the current use, salience, and potential value of these activities for
Australia's political leaders. The findings show, first, that generalised use of online services byelected representatives is substantially higher than that of the Australian population average, and interest in the use of online services, online consultation, and online voting is also quite high. Second, the application of online consultation remains limited for some groups of representatives. Using Rogers's theory of the diffusion of innovation, the difficulty and magnitude of change required to implement some forms of online democratic practices is explained, through use of a number of adoption curves.

Spectacular Political Experiments: the Constitution, Mediation and Performance of Large-Scale Public Participation Execises

by Nick Mahony

Introduction: Rethinking the Public: Innovations In Research, Theory and Politics

by Nick Mahony

Making Democracy Spectacular

by Nick Mahony

Mediating the Publics of Public Participation Experiments

by Nick Mahony

Conclusion: Rethinking the Public: innovations in research, theory and politics

by Nick Mahony

Voice and Trust in Parliamentary Representation

by Kris Dunn

Forthcoming in Electoral Studies.

In both social and political matters, individuals trust those they believe will treat them fairly. Individuals in... more In both social and political matters, individuals trust those they believe will treat them fairly. Individuals in democracies have little objection to abiding by policies instituted by parties they did not vote for because the system by which the parliament is formed is considered fair. However, even among democracies, some electoral systems are fairer than others. It stands to reason that trust in parliament is affected by the perceived fairness of the electoral system. This research demonstrates that actual or perceived provision of voice in parliamentary representation does increase individual trust in parliament. Systems designed with the intent to provide fair representation and those that provide the illusion of fair representation produce higher levels of trust in parliament.

Do Left and Right Differentiate Citizens and Politicians in Latin America?

by Tomas Dosek

Partidos de Gobierno, partidarios y presidentes en 13 países de América Latina

by Juan Manuel Trak Vasquez