Changing Demands, Changing Patterns on Political Representation?: A study of the Conceptions on Representation of Members of the Flemish Regional Parliament

This paper situates itself within on-going scholarly debate on the, so-called, mutual withdrawal between citizens and their formal representatives. Rather than investigate whether and how citizens’ demands on their political representatives have changed, it analyses how members of the Flemish Regional Parliament conceive of political representation, the representative acts it takes, the groups it represents and the strategic choices it requires. The paper argues that such a study has the potential to enhance our understanding of the reasons for citizens’ dissatisfaction with formal – i.e. electoral – forms of representation. By researching how members of parliament define their representative role and obligations, we gain insight in the manners in which MPs deal with the apparent challenges to political representation, such as the growing demand for social group representation, and the growing competition by non-electoral representative actors. The study comprises of 70 semi-structured interviews with members of the Flemish Regional Parliament. The Flemish Regional Parliament forms a good case-study for investigating how representatives shape and (re-)define their representative role. Members typically combine their parliamentary mandate with a local mandate, and need to set their representative activities apart from those of federal parliamentarians; enhancing their capacity to self-reflexivity. We found that members of parliament (MPs) experienced great difficulty at defining the abstract concept of political representation. A few MPs only formulated a personal and comprehensive account of what it means to represent others. Most MPs retreated into generalist, almost text-book like terminology when describing their representative role. While MPs situated themselves within a reciprocal relationship with those represented, they defined themselves predominantly as pro-active, independent actors. The latter explains the general lack among MPs of a genuine reflection on the representative status of parliament, the importance of social group representation, and their relation to non-electoral forms of representation.