Conceptualizing Representative Absence: What, How, When, and Why?

Political representation is about presence and absence. Political theorists and empirical scholars alike have dealt extensively with who makes whom present in what ways in the political process. There is, however, a glaring lack of both theoretical and empirical research into understanding the politics of absence – who is made absent by whom, how, when, and why in the process of political representation? This paper offers an intriguing conceptual innovation through identifying two agents of absence – representatives and citizens – and two types of absence – intentional and unintentional. Absences in representation occur through exclusion, concealment, intangibility, or invisibility. This novel conceptualization of absences goes beyond existing research on underrepresentation and unequal representation of minoritized and vulnerable groups by considering a wide range of potential absentees across the four absence types. It breaks new ground by recognizing the deliberate absence of certain citizen groups, allowing these concealed constituents to have agency in their own absence. Scholars can explore degrees and types of absence as well as the reasons behind these. Directing our attention to absence allows us to go beyond the official categories of group identity (e.g., gender, race, income) that are typically used to allocate resources and grant rights. Finally, this shift in perspective is dynamic because it does not permanently label a group as excluded. Instead, it allows us to explore the circumstances in which they might conceal themselves or have interests that are not immediately visible. All of this is crucial to uncover crucial power dynamics (who & whom?), recognize biases, identify inequalities (how, when & why?), and address policy gaps (what to do?).