Systems of Representation

Abstract Recent discussions about the concept of representation oscillate between analyses of formal institutions of liberal representative democracy, the practice of representation as claims-making, the constitutive aspect of representation, and challenges to the standard system of representation stemming from more radical versions of democracy such as deliberative democracy or direct representative democracy. These discussions reveal that there is an upsurge of new and innovative ways of envisaging representative democracy that challenge the standard view. Do the new ways of thinking about democratic representation require redefining the theoretical and normative views of democracy? Do they require a new assessment of what form of democracy is currently in place, and whether it is possible to envisage a new system of democratic representation based on institutions and practices different from those supported by the standard view? Re-considering the relation between representation and democracy requires a systemic perspective, i.e. various forms of representation, be they formal and informal, standard and non-standard, ‘direct’ and indirect, and the various mechanisms of representation combined in one political system. Panel: “New Modes of Governance and Democratic Representation” Chair: M. Buess So-called New Modes of Governance (NMGs) have been intensively discussed in the academic literature for many years already. Especially in the EU NMGs, e.g. (independent) agencies, networks or the Open Method of Coordination occupy a central position when discussing the effectiveness and legitimacy of this governance system. The objective of this panel is to bring the ongoing discussion surrounding NMGs together with the intensive discussion of political representation in the EU. Combining those two strands of literature allows asking questions like: How is representation in a formalistic sense organized in NMGs? Who and what is represented in new modes of governance? How are different forms of representation - be they formal and informal, standard and non-standard, ‘direct’ and indirect - established and combined in NMGs? Panel: "Representation in government and opposition: challenges to the operationalization of the concept" Chair: Ana Belchior The panel generally aims at contributing to the understanding of the dynamics of public preferences regarding governments’ positions and decisions, notably by taking into account seldom used context variables at the economic and political level, specifically aiming at taking advantage of the new scenario of crisis in Europe and underlying political tensions and transformations. In this analysis it is worthwhile looking at the views on representation (comparing participatory and independent approaches in different contexts), the process (especially at the government’s level: how do governments built their policy agenda in different contexts), and the performance (assessing and comparing the levels of correspondence in different political and economic contexts). Panel: “Movements and parties, movements as parties” Chair: M. Caiani/J. White Some of the more vital forces in contemporary European democracy lie at the intersection of parties and movements. Practices of co-ordination between the two, or the transformation of one into the other, are to be seen in several countries alongside familiar patterns of mutual distrust and competition. This panel examines the nature of these relations more closely, asking what they tell us about the character of political representation in Europe today, as well as what they imply for the evolution of partisanship and movement activism. Both empirical and theoretical papers are welcome. Panel: “The Media and Political Representation: Legitimising or Discrediting Europe?” Chair: K. Auel and O. Eisele Information and communication are vital elements of democratic governance empowering citizens to participate and exert democratic control. In today’s mass democracies, information on political processes and decisions is mainly made available by the media. They provide representatives, both formally elected (such as parliaments) and informal (such as interest groups), a platform for subjecting their political and representative claims, behaviour and decisions to the verdict of the people. At the same time, the media have the power to challenge, (re-)confirm and (re-)formulate current images about Europe and thus to legitimise, but also to delegitimise European governance. Against this background, the panel seeks to explore the relationship between political representation and the media. Panel: “Is democracy today unthinkable without parties?” Chair: Dario Castiglione and Lisa Disch This panel invites critical considerations of the normative and organizational functions of political parties both in the classic form of party-democracy and under the contemporary conditions of governance. We encourage papers reflecting on the parties’ mediating functions between society and the state: whether such functions continue to be necessary and whether they need necessarily be performed by parties. Panel: Representation in federal and quasi-federal systems Chair: John Erik Fossum and Johannes Pollak This panel focuses on issues of representation in federal and quasi-federal systems such as the EU. These systems are typically based on compound systems of representation with multiple channels and institutions that connect citizens to the polity. We invite papers that reflect on normative, theoretical and practical challenges associated with citizens' ability to govern themselves in such systems. Of particular interest would be papers that discuss these themes with reference to new developments in the theory of representation. Panel: “Representation and Democracy: uneasy twins?” Chair: John Erik Fossum and Johannes Pollak Dwindling turn-outs, the rise of executive politics, the marginalization of parliamentary deliberation and decision-making, call into question the strong link between democracy and representation. While it is certainly true that there is no intrinsic connection between the two, modern democracy’s hallmark is a system of representation based on territorially organized competitive elections. What happens: if elections no longer deliver what they promised to do; if public control, equality, and justification get increasingly out of sync? Recent times have seen more and more groups laying claim to being representative, thereby contributing to a proliferation of informal representation at the cost of formal/parliamentary representation. How can accountability/public control be ensured in the resulting complex systems of representation? How can different modes of representation be combined in order to improve the democratic quality of a political system? The panel aims to discuss the relationship between representation and democracy, identify sources for the ever more uneasy connection, and deliberate over possible solutions.