User:Divingem12/Representation (politics)

In the common view, political representation is assumed to refer only to the political activities undertaken, in representative democracies, by citizens elected to political office on behalf of their fellow citizens who do not hold political office. However, the lack of consensus in the political literature on political representation belies this common view. Theorists of representation differ not only in their definition of representation but also, among other things, on what the duties of a representative are, who can be called representative and how one becomes a representative. In her seminal work on political representation (The Concept of Representation), Hanna Pitkin defined political representation as, "a way to make [the represented] present again" and identified four views of political representation which, since her book's publication, have shaped contemporary debates on political representation. Recently, Jane Mansbridge has identified four other views of specifically democratic political representation which, although they are distinct, share some similarities with Pitkin's. On the other hand, Andrew Rehfeld has critiqued the failure of theorists like Pitkin and Mansbridge to articulate a purely descriptive view of political representation and has proposed a general theory of representation that recognizes that political representation can be and often is undemocratic.

Theories
In The Concept of Representation, Pitkin identifies four distinct views of political representation that emerge in the political literature on the subject:


 * 1) Formalistic Representation, including:
 * 2) Authorization
 * 3) Accountability
 * 4) Symbolic Representation
 * 5) Descriptive Representation, and
 * 6) Substantive Representation

Formalistic views of representation identify political representation with the formal procedures (e.g. elections) used in the selection of representatives. Pitkin distinguishes two formalistic views on political representation - the authorization and accountability views. Under the authorization view, a representative is an individual who has been authorized to act on the behalf of another or a group of others. Theorists who take the accountability view argue that a representative is an individual who will be held to account. Generally, the authorization and accountability views of political representation are discussed, separately or in combination, in the context of representative government.