Table Of Content“Reclaiming Representation is the first collection of essays to put the
‘representative turn’ in political theory in proper perspective, by bringing
together some of the authors that have most contributed to such a ‘turn,’
and making them reflect on what political representation entails, what
makes representation legitimate, and how it can be reconciled with demo-
cratic ideas of self-government. Each contributor offers an original reflection
on how recent debates have reshaped both our conceptual and normative
viewsof what political representation isandwhatit does, challenging in the
process old certainties about the relationship between representation and
democracy, or about the mirror-like view of how representatives’ decisions
must reflect, or be congruent with the already fixed opinions of the repre-
sented. In her insightful introduction, Mónica Brito Vieira offers a most
useful reconstruction of the coming about of the ‘representative turn,’ and
weaves the book’s contributions into a convincing narrative, starting from
Hobbes’s paradoxical formulation that ‘the king is the people,’ to its
democratic inversion, that ‘the people is king,’ thus showing the central
place that conceptions of representation play in modern political theory by
engaging with ideas of sovereignty, people and authority.”
Dario Castiglione, University of Exeter
“Whatdoesitmeantoputrepresentation—ratherthan,say,participationor
deliberation—atthe centerof ourtheories of politics and democracy?Andif
representatives construct the identity and interests of the represented, then
what can make representation legitimate? Addressing such questions with
clarity and nuance, this carefully structured volume offers both an excellent
introduction and stimulating contribution to recent theories of political
representation.”
Mark B. Brown, California State University, Sacramento
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Reclaiming Representation
Representation is integral to the functioning and legitimacy of modern
government. Yet political theorists have often been reluctant to engage
directly with questions of representation, and empirical political scientists
have closed down such questions by making representation synonymous
with congruence. Conceptually unproblematic and normatively inert for
some, representation has been deemed impossible to pin down analytically
and to defend normatively by others. But this is changing. Political theorists
arenowturningtopoliticalrepresentation asasubjectworthyoftheoretical
investigation in its own right. In their effort to rework the theory of
political representation, they are also hoping to impact how representation
is assessed and studied empirically.
Thisvolumegatherstogetherchaptersbykeycontributorstowhatamounts
to a “representative turn” in political theory. Their approaches and emphases
are diverse, but taken together they represent a compelling and original
attempt at re-conceptualizing political representation and critically assessing
the main theoretical and political implications following from this, namely
for how we conceive and assess representative democracy. Each contributor
is invited to look back and ahead on the transformations to democratic self-
government introduced by the theory and practice of political representation.
Representation and democracy: outright conflict, uneasy cohabitation, or
reciprocal constitutiveness? For those who think democracy would be better
without representation, this volume is a must-read: it will question their
assumptions, while also exploring some of the reasons for their discomfort.
Reclaiming Representation is essential reading for scholars and graduate
researchers committed to staying on top of new developments in the field.
Mónica Brito Vieira (Ph.D. Cambridge 2005) is a Senior Lecturer at the
Department of Politics of the University of York. Her overlapping areas of
interest are intellectual history, the history of political thought, and con-
temporary political theory. In recent years, her research has focused on the
philosophy of Thomas Hobbes and on the history and theory of political
representation.
Routledge Advances in Democratic Theory
Edited by David Chandler and Paulina Tambakaki (both University of
Westminster)
Advisory Board: Benjamin Barber (City University of New York), Rajeev
Bhargava (Centre for the Study of Developing Societies), Bhikhu Parekh
(House of Lords), Fred Dallmayr (University of Notre Dame), John Keane
(University of Sydney), Chantal Mouffe (University of Westminster).
Democracyisbeingre-thoughtalmosteverywheretoday:withthewidespread
questioning of the rationalist assumptions of classical liberalism, and the
implications this has for representational competition; with the Arab Spring,
destabilizing many assumptions about the geographic spread of democracy;
withthedeficitsofdemocracyapparentintheEuro-zonecrisis,especiallyasit
affects Greece and Italy; with democracy increasingly understand as a process
of social empowerment and equalization, blurring the lines of division
between formal and informal spheres; and with growing demands for
democracy to be reformulated to include the needs of those currently mar-
ginalized or even to include the representation of non-human forms of life
with whom we share our planet.
Routledge Advances in Democratic Theory publishes state of the art the-
oretical reflection on the problems and prospects of democratic theory when
many of the traditional categories and concepts are being reworked and
rethought in our globalized and complex times.
The series is published in cooperation with the Centre for the Study of
Democracy, University of Westminster, London, UK
4. Constrained Elitism and Contemporary Democratic Theory
Timothy Kersey
5. Democracy and Justice
Reading Derrida in Istanbul
Agnes Czajka
6. Negativity and Democracy in the Critical Theory Tradition
Dialectics From Karl Marx to Open Marxism.
Vasilis Grollios
7. Reclaiming Representation
Contemporary Advances in the Theory of Political Representation
Edited by Mónica Brito Vieira
Reclaiming Representation
Contemporary Advances in the Theory of
Political Representation
Edited by
Mónica Brito Vieira
Firstpublished2017
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RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness
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LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Names:BritoVieira,Mónica,editor.
Title:Reclaimingrepresentation:contemporaryadvancesinthe
theoryofpoliticalrepresentation/editedbyMâonicaBritoVieira.
Description:NewYork,NY:Routledge,2017.|Series:Routledge
advancesindemocratictheory;7|Includes
bibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2016046635|ISBN9781138928510(hbk)
Subjects:LCSH:Representativegovernmentandrepresentation–
Philosophy.|Democracy–Philosophy.
Classification:LCCJF1051.R4262017|DDC324.6/3–dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2016046635
ISBN:978-1-138-92851-0(hbk)
ISBN:978-1-315-68169-6(ebk)
TypesetinSabon
byTaylor&FrancisBooks
Contents
Notes on Contributors ix
Acknowledgements xii
Introduction 1
MÓNICABRITOVIEIRA
PART I
Understanding Political Representation 23
1 Performative Imaginaries: Pitkin versus Hobbes on Political
Representation 25
MÓNICABRITOVIEIRA
2 What is Representation? On Being and Becoming a
Representative 50
ANDREWREHFELD
3 Performative Representation 75
MICHAELSAWARD
PART II
Representation and Legitimacy 95
4 The Two Cultures of Democratic Theory: Responsiveness,
Democratic Quality, and the Empirical-Normative Divide 97
ANDREWSABL
5 Toward a Mobilization Conception of Democratic
Representation 132
LISADISCH
viii Contents
PART III
Representation and Democracy 165
6 Representative Democracy is Classless 167
SOFIANÄSSTRÖM
7 The Democratic Tenor of Political Representation 184
NADIAURBINATI
8 Representing Affected Interests 210
LAURAMONTANARO
Index 227
Contributors
Mónica Brito Vieira (Ph.D. Cambridge 2005) is a Senior Lecturer at the
Department of Politics of the University of York. Her overlapping areas
of interest are the history of political thought, contemporary political
theory and intellectual history. In recent years, her research has focused
on the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes and on the history and theory of
political representation. She is the author of The Elements of Repre-
sentation in Hobbes (2009) and the co-author (with David Runciman) of
Representation (2008).
LisaDisch(Ph.D.RutgersUniversity,1988)isaProfessorattheDepartment
of Political Science of the University of Michigan. She specializes in con-
temporary continental political thought, paying particular attention to
feminist theory, political ecology, and theories of democracy in both the
USandFrance.Withindemocratictheory,shespecializesonthetheoryof
political representation, and has been one of the main figures of the so-
called “representative turn.” She has numerous articles on the topic in
journals such as the American Political Science Review or Constellations.
Currently, she is working on a book project (for University of Chicago
Press)onpoliticalrepresentationthatseekstoreconciletheinsightthatacts
of representation neither merely reflect constituencies nor originate with
them but, rather, mobilize them with the expectation that representative
democratic government must be government “by” the people.
Laura Montanaro is a Lecturer in Political Theory in the Department of
GovernmentattheUniversityofEssex.Priortojoiningthedepartmentshe
wasaHarperSchmidtFellowintheSocietyofFellowsattheUniversity of
Chicago. She works on democratic theory, focusing on questions of non-
electoral representation. She has written on the topic in the Journal of
Politics.
Sofia Näsström is Associate Professor and SeniorLecturer at the Department
of Government at Uppsala University. She works in the field of political
theory,withparticularfocusonissuesconnectedtodemocracy,constituent
power, the people, the right to have rights, representation, freedom and
