Visible Representation. A Conceptual and Empirical Proposal

There is growing consensus that the degree of ‘presence’ of historically marginalised groups in elected bodies is critical for the quality of democratic representation. Any examination of the emancipatory and egalitarian character of political representation (descriptive, substantive and symbolic) requires measuring this presence. Yet, current conceptual, theoretical and empirical research on the politics of presence is articulated around the assumption that empirically apprehending such presence is unproblematic and that 'we know what a descriptive representative is'. Lifting this assumption, the paper confronts the conceptual and empirical challenges of measuring presence, presenting results from the INCLUSIVEPARL project ("Conceptualization and measurement of the descriptive and substantive representation of seven under-represented groups in four European democratic parliaments"). Drawing on research on various groups (working class, women, ethnic/migrant minorities, religious minorities, LGBT+, youth, disabled), we confront the conceptual and measurement challenges of the multiple, intertwined and complex identities that accompany group assignment, and the tensions between 'visible' and self-designated assignments. Focusing on the concept of “visibility”, we contribute to the debate by arguing that 'what is visible' affects the ability to represent descriptively, substantively and symbolically, and by proposing consistent measurement instruments to assess the political under-representation of marginalized groups in European parliaments.