Contesting the Boundaries of Political Representation

Abstract

In this chapter I critically examine the literature on political representation and begin to develop a conceptual approach that broadly focuses on practices of political representation in cultural systems. This approach aims to move beyond liberal perspectives that treat representation as the function of national governments or the product of parliamentary elections. Focusing broadly on practices of representation highlights the wider meanings of representation found in different contexts and allows us to understand political representation as a dynamic process of claim-making and claim-judging framed by political norms and institutions. This approach decouples the concept from particular institutional forms (like legislatures) and in doing so provides a broader basis for thinking about democratic reconstruction beyond the nation-state.