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9780521849845

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

by
  • ISBN13:

    9780521849845

  • ISBN10:

    0521849845

  • Format: Hardcover
  • Copyright: 2005-06-27
  • 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

List of Tables
x
Preface xi
PART I. CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS: ON CONSTITUENCY AND POLITICAL REPRESENTATION
Introduction
3(26)
General Introduction
3(10)
Legitimacy and Political Representation
13(6)
Conceptual, Normative, and Historical Correctives
19(7)
Exclusion and Deliberative Diversity
26(3)
The Concept of Constituency
29(26)
The Concept of Constituency in Political Theory
30(4)
Constituency Defined
34(2)
Examples of Constituency Variations
36(3)
Three Dimensions of Constituency: Homogeneity, Stability, and Voluntariness
39(5)
Normative Underpinnings of Constituencies
44(11)
PART II. HISTORICAL JUSTIFICATIONS: ON THE ORIGINS OF TERRITORIAL CONSTITUENCIES IN THE UNITED STATES
Justifications and the Use of History
55(14)
Silence of the Land
55(3)
Plausible Justifications for Territory
58(4)
An Indirect Method of Verification: Normative and Empirical Foundations
62(4)
Ignoring Federalism and Postfounding Developments
66(3)
The English and Colonial Origins of Territorial Constituencies in the United States
69(12)
English Origins
70(2)
Colonial Origins
72(6)
Independence and the United States
78(3)
Origins, Part 1: What Territorial Representation Was Not Meant To Do
81(36)
Territorial Districts and Property Protection
83(3)
Attachment to National Government
86(10)
Territorial Districts and Communities of Interest
96(21)
Origins, Part 2: Territorial Representation as an Enabler of Democratic Values
117(28)
Getting Facts into the Legislature
119(5)
Virtue and the Value of Constituent Deliberation
124(5)
Elections as Tangible Moments of Consent
129(6)
Epilogue: Postfounding Developments
135(10)
PART III. NORMATIVE APPLICATIONS: ON LEGITIMATE REPRESENTATION AND INSTITUTIONAL DESIGN
Territory Reconsidered
145(32)
Introduction: On the Function of Political Representation
148(3)
Communities of Interest and Incentive Effects
151(9)
Attachment
160(5)
Enabling Personal Consent to One's Constituency
165(5)
Enabling Democratic Values within the Constituency
170(6)
Summary and Conclusion
176(1)
Legitimate Representation and Institutional Design: For Permanent, Involuntary, Heterogeneous Constituencies
177(32)
Introduction
177(3)
The Limiting Conditions for Legitimate Political Representation
180(6)
Making Sense of ``Self-Rule'': Permanent Constituencies, Accountability, and Authorization
186(6)
Voluntary Constituencies: Why ``One Person, One Vote'' Is a Trivial Standard
192(7)
Heterogeneous Constituencies: Pluralism, Republicanism, and the Assumption of Social Cooperation
199(7)
Conclusion
206(1)
Coda: Territory Revisited
207(2)
Random Constituencies
209(31)
Introduction and Chapter Overview
209(4)
Random Constituencies: Applications and Results
213(2)
Logistics of Public Discussions and Campaigns: The Internet as Political Tool
215(13)
Moving beyond an IPD: The Stronger Case for Randomized Constituencies
228(6)
Deliberative Implications of the Random Constituency within the Legislature
234(6)
Epilogue: The Random Constituency Fifty Years from Now
240(5)
Index 245

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