The Functioning of Representative Democracy: Processes Linking Citizens and the State

This section deals with different aspects of the functioning of contemporary representative democracy, based on the notions of political inclusiveness and equality. The core question that this section asks is: ‘How do democracies function empirically?’ It aims to examine to what extent people’s preferences are included in the political process, to what extent this process is fair and results in an equal reflection of people’s preferences (i.e. procedural fairness, impartiality, and differential responsiveness), and to what extent political actors are able to connect citizens to the state. We thus aim to re-evaluate some traditional elements of democracy, related to practical democratic principles, representation and political involvement. The panels in this session deal with different issues related to this topic. To what extent is the political system designed to be impartial and reflect (equal) inclusion of citizens (panel 1 and 2)? What is the role of political parties and how do they deal with contemporary democratic challenges (panel 3), and in what ways are citizens and parliament/government connected (panel 4 and 5)? Moreover, we invite further panel applications to broaden the scope of the session, possibly related to democratic inclusion and participation; the role of participatory democratic institutions; and/or developments within political parties illustrating their (lack of) adaptability to changes in democracy. The different contributions would examine how representative democracy works empirically and comparatively, and attempt to evaluate whether this is sustainable in our current day and age. Together, the session aims to shed light on contemporary strengths and difficulties within democracies, and consequently also explores which measures could potentially improve their current state. Biographical note section-chairs: Jonas Linde is professor at the Department of comparative politics at the University of Bergen. His publications have dealt with different aspects of political support, quality of government and post-communist democratization. Yvette Peters is lecturer at the chair of comparative politics, Humboldt University. She is interested in how institutions influence people's behaviour, and how democratic representation functions. She has been an active member of the ECPR, both in organizing and participating in panels/sessions.