Contested representation : challenges, shortcomings, and reforms / edited by Claudia Landwehr, Thomas Saalfeld, Armin Schäfer.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Landwehr, Claudia, editor.

Saalfeld, Thomas, 1960- editor.

Schäfer, Armin, editor.

Series:

SSRC anxieties of democracy.

SSRC anxieties of democracy

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Representative government and representation--Cross-cultural studies.

Representative government and representation.

Political participation--Cross-cultural studies.

Political participation.

Populism--Cross-cultural studies.

Populism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xviii, 347 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2023.

Summary:

In the past two decades, democratic institutions have faced a crisis of representation. From authoritarian backsliding in countries with recent democratic transformations, to severe challenges to established liberal democracies, the meaning of political representation and whether and when it succeeds has become highly debated. In response to an increasingly fraught political climate, Contested Representation brings together scholars from across the United States and Europe to critically assess the performance of representative institutions in Europe and North America. Taking an interdisciplinary, comparative approach, this volume looks at the viability of electoral institutions, the responsiveness of government to public preferences, alternative institutions for more inclusive democracy, and the political economy of populism. Chapters also address the broader normative question of how democratic institutions can be adapted to new conditions and challenges. Expertly researched and exceedingly timely, Contested Representation provides critical frameworks that highlight realistic pathways to democratic reform.

Contents:

Cover

Half-title

Series information

Sponsored by the Social Science Research Council

Title page

Copyright information

Contents

List of Figures

List of Tables

List of Contributors

Acknowledgments

1 Introduction

Dilemmas of Democratic Representation

The Problem of Responsiveness

New Cleavages, Polarization, and Institutional Resilience

Toward New Forms of Democratic Governance?

Overview of the Book

Part I The Contested Idea of Political Representation

2 Contested Representation: Populist Challenges, Political Support and the Reform of Democratic Institutions

Introduction

Democracy and Representation

The Populist Challenge to Representative Democracy

Citizens' Conceptions of Democracy and Representation

Procedural Consensus, Meta-deliberation and Institutional Reform

Conclusion

3 Deliberative Minipublics and the Populist Conception of Representation As Embodiment

Populism and Embodied Representation

Minipublics and Embodied Representation

Citizens Representatives: The Ultimate Usurpers?

The Illusion of Democracy or ''Beware of Usurpers!''

Are the Majority of My Fellow Citizens ''Like Me?'': The Problem of Blind Deference

An Alternative to Usurpation: From Being like Us to Speaking to Us

4 An Evolved Representative Democracy in a Brave New World of Ideological Protest

A New Democratic Electorate that Communicates to One Another: The Link between Voters and Protestors

The Emergence of Ideological Protest in the United States

The Rise and Fall of Protest Movements and the Ideology They Convey in American Democracy

A Representative Democracy That Is Taking Ideological Protest Cues: Both Voters and Politicians at Each Stage of the Electoral Process

Primaries and National Conventions

Campaign Contributions

Voter Turnout.

Entering the Race: More Qualified Candidates Run for Office

Election Results

A Word about Blacklash

5 Rising to the Challenge?: Political Representation in the European Union

Approaching Representation in an EU-Context

Exploring Representative Claims: Data and Methodology

How Do MEPs Represent?

6 Progress and Failure in Achieving Equal Representation: Understanding Women's Officeholding by Party in the United States

The Importance of Descriptive Representation

Men Are Overrepresented in Political Offices

The Culture of the Democratic and Republican Parties

The Supply of Women Candidates

The Development of Political Ambition among Men and Women

The Effects of Women Political Elites

The Demand for Republican and Democratic Women

Democratic Voters Prefer Women Candidates

Part II Representation and Responsiveness in Unequal Societies

7 Reconsidering Representation: How the Same Data Can Produce Divergent Conclusions about the Quality of Democratic Responsiveness in the United States

Models of Political Responsiveness

Group Opinion and Preference Gaps

Majority Rule

Relative Policy Support

Dynamic Representation

What the Four Models Imply for Unequal Responsiveness

Voters and Nonvoters

Income Groups

Economically Secure and Insecure

Program Recipients and Nonrecipients

Conclusions and Recommendations

Which Model(s) of Responsiveness Do Politicians Follow?

Why Does It Feel Like Politicians Don't Listen?

Implications for Understanding Social and Economic Inequality

Comparative Implications

Final Thoughts and Recommendations

8 All about the Middle Class?: (Un)equal Responsiveness in Social and Education Policy

Introduction and Motivation.

Public Opinion about Education and Social Investment Policies

Empirical Analysis of Spending Preferences

Analysis of Preferences for Policy Reforms

Discussion and Conclusions

9 Unequal Representation and the Right-Wing Populist Vote in Europe

Voice of the Unrepresented

Explaining Populism

Unequal Responsiveness

Data and Methods

Perceived Responsiveness and the Populist Vote

Unequal Responsiveness and AFD Vote in Germany

RWPP Vote in Europe

10 What Do Voters Think about the Descriptive Underrepresentation of the Working Class?

Perceptions of Working-Class Representation

Evidence from Argentina, Britain, and the United States

Do Voters Know How Underrepresented Workers (and Women) Are?

Do Voters Care?

Blinded by Wealth?

Part III Polarization, New Cleavages, and Shifts in Democratic Government

11 Policy and Politics in Disjuncture in an Age of Secular Stagnation

What Is Secular Stagnation?

Why Does Secular Stagnation Matter for Politics?

Individual Divides

Regional Divides

Research Design

Prioritization and Perceptions: Eurobarometer

Places: Secular Stagnation and Regional Voting

12 Polarization and the Making and Breaking of Governments in European Parliamentary Democracies

Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses

Bargaining Duration

Cabinet Duration

Contextual Variables

Data on Cabinet Duration in Twenty-Eight European Democracies

Measuring Polarization and Other Independent Variables

Statistical Modeling Strategy

Data Analysis

Descriptives

Ideological Polarization and Bargaining Delay

Ideological Polarization and Cabinet Duration

Conclusions

13 Is Populism a Threat or a Chance for Representative Democracy?

Introduction.

On Representative Democracy in a Global Age

On Contemporary Populism

Authoritarian Populism and the Democratic Process

Indirect Effects: Increased Responsiveness and Contestation

Direct Effects: Undermining Reason and the Liberal Pillars of Democracies

A Distant, but Direct Effect: Undermining the Liberal International Order

Part IV Constitutional Crisis and Institutional Reform

14 Deliberative Innovations and the (Re-)Inclusion of Disadvantaged and Underrepresented Citizens

Democratic Promises and Perils of Deliberative Innovations

The Micro Level: Inclusivity, Voice, Receptivity, Authority and (Substantive) Responsiveness

A Re-Analysis of Europolis

The Macro Level: Agenda-Setting, Visibility, Consequentiality and Legitimacy of Deliberative Innovations

A New Era of Deliberative Innovations: Diversification of Speech, Differentiated Facilitation, Enclave Deliberation and Re-Politicization

15 Electoral Democracies and Democratic Innovations

A Crisis of Democracy?

Democratic Innovations as Supplementary Democracy?

Opportunities within Representative Democracy

Opportunities ''Below'' Representative Democracy

Opportunities ''Above'' Representative Democracy

Where Does the Field of Democratic Innovations Need to Develop?

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 03 Nov 2022).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-009-26773-6

1-009-26771-X

1-009-26769-8