Book contents
- Contested Representation
- SSRC Anxieties of Democracy
- Sponsored by the Social Science Research Council
- Contested Representation
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- Part I The Contested Idea of Political Representation
- 2 Contested Representation
- 3 Deliberative Minipublics and the Populist Conception of Representation As Embodiment
- 4 An Evolved Representative Democracy in a Brave New World of Ideological Protest
- 5 Rising to the Challenge?
- 6 Progress and Failure in Achieving Equal Representation
- Part II Representation and Responsiveness in Unequal Societies
- Part III Polarization, New Cleavages, and Shifts in Democratic Government
- Part IV Constitutional Crisis and Institutional Reform
- Bibliography
- Index
2 - Contested Representation
Populist Challenges, Political Support and the Reform of Democratic Institutions
from Part I - The Contested Idea of Political Representation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 November 2022
- Contested Representation
- SSRC Anxieties of Democracy
- Sponsored by the Social Science Research Council
- Contested Representation
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- Part I The Contested Idea of Political Representation
- 2 Contested Representation
- 3 Deliberative Minipublics and the Populist Conception of Representation As Embodiment
- 4 An Evolved Representative Democracy in a Brave New World of Ideological Protest
- 5 Rising to the Challenge?
- 6 Progress and Failure in Achieving Equal Representation
- Part II Representation and Responsiveness in Unequal Societies
- Part III Polarization, New Cleavages, and Shifts in Democratic Government
- Part IV Constitutional Crisis and Institutional Reform
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Bernard Manin has argued that every transformation of democracy is accompanied by diagnoses of crisis (Manin, 1997: 193–4). The contemporary diagnoses of a crisis of liberal democracy are also, and perhaps primarily, diagnoses of a crisis of representation. Those concerned about political alienation and non-participation tend to blame misfunctions of representative institutions and their removed, secluded and increasingly technocratic character for citizens’ loss of interest in politics (e.g. Crouch, 2002; Hay, 2007; Mair, 2013). The literature on responsiveness contents that citizens’ unequal influence on political decisions and the frequent divergence of decisions from majority positions constitutes a failure of representatives to adequately represent all societal interests and preferences (e.g. Gilens, 2005; Bartels, 2008; Elsässer et al., 2018). The rise of populist parties and candidates, which is commonly regarded as the biggest threat to liberalism and democracy, is often explained as a response to the failures of representation: Mainstream parties are said to have betrayed the interests of low-income and low-education citizens and to have left a representational gap where preferences for a combination of redistributive with culturally conservative or even authoritarian policies are concerned. Accordingly, it is not surprising that many populist movements and parties challenge not only the policies produced by mainstream parties, but also the representative polity in which these are produced, and demand different, and in particular, more direct forms of democracy.
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- Information
- Contested RepresentationChallenges, Shortcomings and Reforms, pp. 15 - 31Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022