The Role of the Representative: Some Empirical Observations on the Theory of Edmund Burke

1959 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 742-756 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heinz Eulau ◽  
John C. Wahlke ◽  
William Buchanan ◽  
Leroy C. Ferguson

The problem of representation is central to all discussions of the functions of legislatures or the behavior of legislators. For it is commonly taken for granted that, in democratic political systems, legislatures are both legitimate and authoritative decision-making institutions, and that it is their representative character which makes them authoritative and legitimate. Through the process of representation, presumably, legislatures are empowered to act for the whole body politic and are legitimized. And because, by virtue of representation, they participate in legislation, the represented accept legislative decisions as authoritative. But agreement about the meaning of the term “representation” hardly goes beyond a general consensus regarding the context within which it is appropriately used. The history of political theory is studded with definitions of representation, usually embedded in ideological assumptions and postulates which cannot serve the uses of empirical research without conceptual clarification.

2019 ◽  
pp. 156-196
Author(s):  
John Owen Havard

This chapter re-examines the party-political career of Edmund Burke and the writings of Maria Edgeworth in relation to a deep history of Anglo-Irish ‘discontents’ and their challenges to the ‘count’ of politics. Complicating ‘Burkean’ appeals to hierarchy and order, the chapter uncovers the conflicted party identity that is apparent within writings by and about Edmund Burke, returning to view the various channels of feeling engaged, for example, during his involvement in debates over ‘absentee’ landlords. The chapter goes on to give a reading of The Absentee (1812) that calls attention to recalcitrant elements that exceed systems of representation in Edgeworth’s novel, which remains animated in this reading by those elements left behind, in both senses, by emergent systems of governance. The chapter’s opening section speculates about the role of biography in Lewis Namier’s History of Parliament and asks how the novel form, in the hands of women writers, provided unique vantage points on political systems organized around men.


2018 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Arceneaux

AbstractIntuitions guide decision-making, and looking to the evolutionary history of humans illuminates why some behavioral responses are more intuitive than others. Yet a place remains for cognitive processes to second-guess intuitive responses – that is, to be reflective – and individual differences abound in automatic, intuitive processing as well.


Somatechnics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-303
Author(s):  
Michael Connors Jackman

This article investigates the ways in which the work of The Body Politic (TBP), the first major lesbian and gay newspaper in Canada, comes to be commemorated in queer publics and how it figures in the memories of those who were involved in producing the paper. In revisiting a critical point in the history of TBP from 1985 when controversy erupted over race and racism within the editorial collective, this discussion considers the role of memory in the reproduction of whiteness and in the rupture of standard narratives about the past. As the controversy continues to haunt contemporary queer activism in Canada, the productive work of memory must be considered an essential aspect of how, when and for what reasons the work of TBP comes to be commemorated. By revisiting the events of 1985 and by sifting through interviews with individuals who contributed to the work of TBP, this article complicates the narrative of TBP as a bluntly racist endeavour whilst questioning the white privilege and racially-charged demands that undergird its commemoration. The work of producing and preserving queer history is a vital means of challenging the intentional and strategic erasure of queer existence, but those who engage in such efforts must remain attentive to the unequal terrain of social relations within which remembering forms its objects.


Author(s):  
Alain Cribier ◽  
Helene Eltchaninoff

Decision-making for the management of valvular disease (VHD) is rapidly evolving with advances in surgical and interventional techniques. The main causes of VHD has moved from rheumatic to degenerative, more particularly in industrial countries. In this chapter will be briefly discuss the aetiologies, presentation, and natural history of VHD in adults. The medical and surgical options available to date and the threshold for intervention will be then described. The role of a multidisciplinary Heart Valve Team working together with a geriatrician has become crucial to determine the optimal therapeutic option for VHD in older adults. Surgical valve replacement has been for decades the only possible option for the three leading VHDs in developed countries: aortic stenosis (AS), aortic regurgitation (AR) and mitral regurgitation (MR). Mitral stenosis (MS) has almost disappeared in Western countries while its prevalence remains high in the developing world.


1975 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Finn Fuglestad

The institutional framework imposed upon Niger in 1946, tended to function according to traditional political concepts, norms, notions and values. Hence the distinction established in this paper between ‘traditionalist’ (UNIS/BNA) and ‘modern’ political parties, refers to the degree of reliance upon this traditional culture and also to the degree to which party-leaders were able to manipulate the norms, notions, etc., of the traditional political systems, in order to gain influence within the new institutional framework. The French Administration, functioning largely as an indigenous chieftaincy, was to a certain extent forced to interfere in politics, since an electoral victory for a ‘modern’ political party (i.e. the évolués) would have to be interpreted—according to the logic of traditional political theory—as a loss of the ‘force’, ‘power’ or ‘luck’, without which the French could no longer be regarded as the legitimate rulers of Niger.If the French finally decided to collaborate with the évolués (and in the process disentangled themselves from the ‘chieftaincy-model’), it was because the évolués constituted the only group capable of grasping the intricate problems of economic development and of running a modern state.


2010 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silke Oldenburg

This paper explores the decision-making processes used by the inhabitants of Goma during the Kivu Crisis in October 2008. The paper's aim is twofold: After providing a short history of the October 2008 events, it seeks in the empirical part to distinguish and clarify the role of rumours and narratives in the setting of violent conflict as well as to analyse their impact on decision-making processes. As the epistemological interest lies more on the people who stay rather than those who flee, in the second part the paper argues that the practice of routinization indicates a conscious tactic whose purpose is to counter the non-declared state of exception in Goma. Routinization is defined as a means of establishing order in everyday life by referring to narratives based on lived experiences.


2019 ◽  
Vol 01 (02) ◽  
pp. 1950003
Author(s):  
Janko Šćepanović

The Six Day War was one of the most defining moments in the history of the Modern Middle East. This paper seeks to add to the existing scholarship on the subject by going beyond the structural explanation. It gives special attention to the role of unit-level variables like perception, personality, and political psychology of decision-makers. As one scholar noted, threats are not perceived in a vacuum, and are, instead, products of complex synthesis of subjective appraisal of events by the decision-makers. The focus will be on the beliefs and perceptions of the most impactful actor in this crisis: Egyptian President Nasser. As will be argued, his decision-making was shaped by his experience with foreign imperialism, a general misconception of super power intentions, an incorrect analogy between two crucial crisis situations with Israel: the February 1960 Rotem Crisis, and the build-up to the June War in 1967, and especially his complicated relations with the US leaders.


2016 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-44
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Biegańska

Changes in the modern labor market and changes in human motives resulting from the development in the course of life, contribute to the profound changes in their careers.  It is necessary to continuous education and openness to new experiences.  The presented article includes a  theoretical discussion on determinants of decision‑making process concerning a  career breakthrough. The author formulates the concept of career breakthrough and reviews empirical research into the tendency to make changes in the course of one’s career with particular emphasis on subjective causes. There are also important growth factors, environmental, individuality – environment. Also included is the role of trade unions and the preferred type of career.


1950 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-87
Author(s):  
Janet Besse ◽  
Harold D. Lasswell

Opinion differs about the role of syndicated columnists in the forming of national opinion and in the decision-making process in the United States. Our columnists have been the subject of pioneering studies, but we have a long way to go before the picture can be called historically complete, scientifically precise, or fully satisfactory for policy-making purposes. What the columnists say is an important chapter in the history of the American public, and history is most useful for critical purposes when written close to the event. The general theory of communication and politics can be refined as the details of the opinion process are more fully known.


2020 ◽  
pp. 114-128
Author(s):  
S.N. Savin

The paper presents historical facts about the building and development of cosmonaut preflight training complex at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the sixties of the last century. The role of some leaders of the space industry and the Ministry of Defense in substantiating and decision-making on the subject of creation and development of the training facilities is shown. The need to develop the training complex in order to tackle growing tasks of the Russian manned space program is briefly substantiated. The second stage of building individual elements of the complex, their role in providing cosmonaut preflight training is described.


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