Designing for Feminist Democratic Representation

Design Practices ◽

First Offers ◽

Normative Ideals

Chapter 4 opens the second part of Feminist Democratic Representation. It first offers a discussion of the recent institutional and representational turn in democratic theory. Four ideals are identified that speak to concerns with women’s political representation: (i) democratic representation connects the institutional and the societal, (ii) democratic representation is creative and educative, (iii) democratic representation is deliberative, and (iv) democratic representation unifies and builds trust. These normative ideals are very promising but on their own only go so far. Added to them are the feminist principles of inclusiveness, responsiveness, and egalitarianism. Together these produce the feminist democratic effects that the authors seek. To this end, an introduction is provided to the design thinking and the specificities of the design practices envisaged. Chapter 4 is, therefore, where the authors’ approach is situated within the emerging literature on democratic design.

The Good Representation of Women

Feminist Democratic Representation ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190087722.003.0004 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 83-104

Author(s):

Karen Celis

Keyword(s):

Design Thinking ◽

Electoral Politics ◽

The Political ◽

Good Representation ◽

Substantive Representation ◽

Representation Of Women ◽

Procedural Approach ◽

Elected Representatives

Chapter 3 marks a key step in the development of the authors feminist design thinking, contending that electoral politics should institutionalize new representative processes. In so doing, it visualizes new relationships between elected representatives and those they represent in ways that are attendant to debates over what is in the interests of women, and all the time conceiving of the political representation of women in the round. Critically, the feminism of Feminist Democratic Representation refers not to a definition rooted in one or other type of feminism, or one or other set of feminist policies, but to processes characterized by three principles: inclusiveness, responsiveness, and egalitarianism. Chapter 3 also engages head on with critics, and the accusation that in shifting from a content to a procedural approach to women’s substantive representation we had effectively permitted “anything” to count. The authors disagreed then with this criticism, and here they extend their commitment to feminist processes of political representation.

Revisiting the constructivist turn in political representation

European Journal of Political Theory ◽

10.1177/14748851211055951 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 147488512110559

Author(s):

Fabio Wolkenstein

Keyword(s):

Representation Theory ◽

Democratic Theory ◽

State Of The Art ◽

The State ◽

New Politics ◽

Theoretical Innovation ◽

Constructivist Approaches

In recent times, representation theory has become one of the most productive and interesting sub-fields in democratic theory. Arguably, the most important theoretical innovation are the so-called ‘constructivist’ approaches to political representation. These approaches play a central role in Creating Political Presence: The New Politics of Democratic Representation and The Constructivist Turn in Political Representation, two impressive volumes that take stock of the state of the art in representation theory. I discuss the two volumes by focusing on three broader and interconnected themes: the problem that constructivism is meant to respond to, the tendency of representation theorists to expand the possibilities of representation as broadly as possible, and the normative aspects of political representation and how constructivists deal with them.

Rethinking democratic representation: eight theoretical issues and a postscript1

The Constructivist Turn in Political Representation ◽

10.3366/edinburgh/9781474442602.003.0002 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 21-47 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Dario Castiglione ◽

Mark E. Warren

Keyword(s):

21St Century ◽

Political Practice ◽

Political Processes ◽

Input And Output ◽

The Relationship ◽

Theoretical Issues ◽

The Way

This chapter offers here a sketch of eight theoretical issues that are fundamental to rethinking the problems and potentials of political representation under emerging conditions. The issues include: (1) the relational character of representation; (2) the role that trusteeship plays in forms of democratic representation; (3) an assessment of representation in terms of both input and output; (4) representation considered as a political practice; (5) the way in which representation is constituted by and within political processes; (6) the objects of representation: who and what are represented; (7) the question of who is a democratic representative; and (8) the relationship between authorization and accountability in informal representation. In each of these dimensions the theory of representation in democracies needs refurbishing, a task that requires returning to the concept of representation in a more systematic way, also taking on board theoretical intuitions from deliberative, participatory and radical populist conceptions of democracy. The postscript takes stock of some of these developments and suggests that rethinking political representation is part of the pressing task to reconsider democracy in the 21st century.

10. Gender and Democratization

Democratization ◽

10.1093/hepl/9780199233021.003.0010 ◽

2009 ◽

Author(s):

Pamela Paxton

Keyword(s):

Political Participation ◽

Descriptive Representation ◽

Women's Suffrage ◽

Substantive Representation ◽

The World ◽

Role Of Women ◽

Women’S Suffrage

This chapter examines the role of gender in democracy and democratization. It first considers how gender figures in definitions of democracy, noting that while women may appear to be included in definitions of democracy, they are often not included in practice. It then explores women’s democratic representation, making a distinction between formal, descriptive, and substantive representation. Women’s formal political representation is highlighted by focusing on the fight for women’s suffrage, whereas women’s descriptive representation is illustrated with detailed information on women’s political participation around the world. Finally, the chapter discusses the role of women in recent democratization movements around the world.

10. Gender and Democratization

Democratization ◽

10.1093/hepl/9780198732280.003.0010 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 158-170

Author(s):

Pamela Paxton ◽

Kristopher Velasco

Keyword(s):

Political Participation ◽

Descriptive Representation ◽

Women's Suffrage ◽

Substantive Representation ◽

The World ◽

Role Of Women ◽

Women’S Suffrage

Thinking about elections and about democratic representation

European Constitutional Law Review ◽

10.1017/s1574019611100012 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 1-3

Author(s):

LH ◽

GvdS ◽

WTE

Keyword(s):

Direct Democracy ◽

Electoral Systems ◽

Electoral Reform ◽

Representative Democracy ◽

The Self ◽

The Other ◽

Parliamentary Democracy ◽

Modern Representative

[Political representation] is the basis of modern representative democracy. Older and less sophisticated forms, such as direct democracy, subsist marginally, even if they keep exerting a certain attraction. But representative democracy does not carry the self-evident authority it once had. Like every modern institution it is under challenge and consequently needs to be defended. In actual politics, the defence often takes the form of discussion of the merits of one system over the other and of proposals for change. The part of this defence appertaining to constitutional scholarship is not concerned primarily with proposals and changes. It is, before all, to brush up the fundamentals underlying representative democracy, on the basis of topical issues.There are three current issues upon which we would like to draw attention. They are: equality in structuring electoral systems, the processes of electoral reform and the rise of non-majoritarian institutions versus parliamentary democracy.

Enhancing Political Representation Through the European Economic Constitution? Regressive Politics of Democratic Inclusion

European Constitutional Law Review ◽

10.1017/s1574019619000105 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 194-219

Author(s):

Jussi Jaakkola

Keyword(s):

Market Integration ◽

The State ◽

European Market ◽

Regulatory Competition ◽

Political Empowerment ◽

European Economic ◽

Economic Constitution ◽

The Eu

Interrelation between economic and political dimensions of constitutionalism – European market integration and erosion of democratic representation within Member States of the EU – Regulatory externalities between national democracies – European market citizenship and its ramifications for democratically legitimate exercise of the power to tax – Underinclusiveness of domestic democratic process – Political representation beyond the state – European economic constitution as a source of political empowerment and the EU economic freedoms as political rights – The European Court of Justice as a protector of representation – Reinforcing political participation through regulatory competition – European market freedoms enhance representation but at the expense of political equality – Economic freedoms as insufficient means of political empowerment – Improving democratic representation and equality beyond the state requires properly political citizenship instead of mere market rights

Democratic Representation and Legislative Theatre

Theoria ◽

10.3167/th.2020.6716402 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 67 (164) ◽

pp. 26-47

Author(s):

Gustavo H. Dalaqua

Keyword(s):

Public Sphere ◽

Augusto Boal ◽

The Public ◽

General Terms ◽

The Public Sphere ◽

Opening Up

This article seeks to contribute to the debate on how political representation can promote democracy by analysing the Chamber in the Square, which is a component of legislative theatre. A set of techniques devised to democratise representative governments, legislative theatre was created by Augusto Boal when he was elected a political representative in 1993. After briefly reviewing Nadia Urbinati’s understanding of democratic representation as a diarchy of will and judgement, I partially endorse Hélène Landemore’s criticism and contend that if representation is to be democratic, citizens’ exchange of opinions in the public sphere should be invested with the power not only to judge but also to decide political affairs. By opening up a space where the represented can judge, decide, and contest the general terms of the bills representatives present in the assembly, the Chamber in the Square harnesses political representation to democracy.

Claims of Representation: Between Representation and Democractic Innovations

Frontiers in Political Science ◽

10.3389/fpos.2021.591544 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

Author(s):

Petra Guasti ◽

Brigitte Geissel

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Constructivist Theory ◽

Second Step ◽

Traditional Theory ◽

Participatory Budgeting ◽

Institutional Contexts

This article seeks to build a bridge between the empirical scholarship rooted in the traditional theory of political representation and constructivist theory on representation by focusing on the authorization of claims. It seeks to answer how claims can be authorized beyond elections - selecting three democratic innovations and tracing claims through the claim-making process. Different participatory democratic innovations are selected - providing various claims and taking place in different institutional contexts, i.e., (elected) members of the Council of Foreigners Frankfurt; individual citizens in participatory budgeting procedures in Münster; and citizen’s associations elected politicians in the referendum campaign in Hamburg. We first analyze the claims raised by the different claim-makers to identify their claimed constituency eligible to authorize claims. In the second step, we focus on the authorization by the claimed constituency and the relevant decision-making authority. The article finds that claim-making in democratic innovations is fractured and incomplete. Nevertheless, this is not the reason to dismiss democratic innovations as possible loci of representation; on the contrary, seen through the prism of claim-making, all representation – electoral and nonelectoral – is partial. Focusing on the authorization of claims in democratic innovations provides novel inferences about the potential and limits of democratic innovations for broadening democratic representation

Feminist Democratic Representation

10.1093/oso/9780190087722.001.0001 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Karen Celis ◽

Sarah Childs

Keyword(s):

Group Representation ◽

Political Agenda ◽

Starting Point ◽

Marine Le Pen ◽

Account Giving ◽

Women's Dress ◽

The Ideal

When are women well represented, politically speaking? The popular consensus has been, for some time, when descriptive representatives put women’s issues and feminist interests on the political agenda. Today, such certainty has been well and truly shaken; differences among women—especially how they conceive of their “interests”—is said to fatally undermine the principle and practice of women’s group representation. There has been a serious loss of faith, too, in legislatures as the sites where political representation takes place. Feminist Democratic Representation responds by making a second-generation feminist design intervention; firmly grounded in feminist empirical political science, the authors’ design shows how women’s misrepresentation is best met procedurally, taking women’s differences as their starting point, adopting an indivisible conception of representation, and reclaiming the role of legislatures. This book introduces a new group of actors—the affected representatives of women—and two new parliamentary practices: group advocacy and account giving. Working with a series of vignettes—abortion, prostitution, Muslim women’s dress, and Marine Le Pen—the authors explore how these representational problematics might fare were a feminist democratic process of representation in place. The ideal representative effects are broad rather than simply descriptive or substantive: they include effects relating to affinity, trust, legitimacy, symbolism, and affect. They manifest in stronger representative relationships among women in society, and between women and their representatives, elected and affective; and greater support for the procedures, institutions, and substantive outputs of representative politics, and at a higher level, the idea of representative democracy. Against the more fashionable tide of post-representative politics, Feminist Democratic Representation argues for more and better representation.