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9780521057325

The Concept of Constituency: Political Representation, Democratic Legitimacy, and Institutional Design

by
  • ISBN13:

    9780521057325

  • ISBN10:

    0521057329

  • Format: Paperback
  • Copyright: 2008-03-24
  • Publisher: Cambridge University Press

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Summary

In virtually every democratic nation in the world, political representation is defined by where citizens live. In the United States, for example, Congressional Districts are drawn every 10 years as lines on a map. Why do democratic governments define political representation this way? Are territorial electoral constituencies commensurate with basic principles of democratic legitimacy? And why might our commitments to these principles lead us to endorse a radical alternative: randomly assigning citizens to permanent, single-member electoral constituencies that each looks like the nation they collectively represent? Using the case of the founding period of the United States as an illustration, and drawing from classic sources in Western political theory, this book describes the conceptual, historical, and normative features of the electoral constituency. As an institution conceptually separate from the casting of votes, the electoral constituency is little studied. Its historical origins are often incorrectly described. And as a normative matter, the constituency is almost completely ignored. Raising these conceptual, historical and normative issues, the argument culminates with a novel thought experiment of imagining how politics might change under randomized, permanent, national electoral constituencies. By focusing on how citizens are formally defined for the purpose of political representation, The Concept of Constituency thus offers a novel approach to the central problems of political representation, democratic legitimacy, and institutional design.

Table of Contents

The Concept of Constituency and Legitimate Political Representation
Introduction: constituency, legitimacy, and political representation
The concept of constituency
On the Silence of the Land: Territorial Constituencies in American History
Justifications and the use of history
The English and Colonial origins of territorial constituencies in the United States
Territorial districts at the American Founding
Territorial representation as an enabler of democratic values
Standards and Reform
Territory reconsidered
On legitimate representation and a default position: permanent, involuntary, heterogeneous constituencies
The random constituency
Epilogue: the random constituency 50 years from now
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

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