Contested Representation
Challenges, Shortcomings and Reforms

This volume analyses the crisis of democratic representation in liberal democracies and offers reforms for representative institutions.

Claudia Landwehr (Edited by), Thomas Saalfeld (Edited by), Armin Schäfer (Edited by)

9781009267724, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 17 November 2022

320 pages
23.5 x 15.9 x 2.7 cm, 0.7 kg

'This captivating volume joins rigorous empirical scholarship with cutting-edge theory on democratic representation to plumb leading challenges confronting mass democracies worldwide. Staging a rare dialogue among diverse approaches, this volume achieves something rarer still. It inspires hope for democratic innovation.' Lisa Disch, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

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.

1. Introduction Claudia Landwehr, Thomas Saalfeld and Armin Schäfer
Part I. The Contested Idea of Political Representation: 2. Democratic Representation, Contestation and Institutional Reform Claudia Landwehr
3. Deliberative Minipublics and the Populist Conception of Representation as Embodiment Cristina Lafont
4.Protest and the Will of the People in a Representative Democracy Daniel Gillion
5. Evolving Dilemmas: Representative Democracy in the European Union Guri Rosen
6. Progress and Failure in Achieving Equal Representation: Understanding Women's Office Holding by Party in the US Melody Crowder-Meyer
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 Peter K. Enns
8. Party Politics or Public Opinion? Unequal Responsiveness of Policy-making Reconsidered Marius R. Busemeyer
9. Unequal Representation and the Right-Wing Populist Vote in Europe Svenja Hense and Armin Schäfer
10. What Do Voters Think About the Descriptive Underrepresentation of the Working Class? Nicholas Carnes and Noam Lupu
Part III. Polarization, New Cleavages and Shifts in Democratic Government: 11. Policy and Politics in Disjuncture Jane Gingrich and Ben Ansell
12. The Effect of Polarization on Cabinet Formation and Termination in European Democracies, 1945–2019 Henning Bergmann and Thomas Saalfeld
13. Is Populism a Threat or a Chance for Representative Democracy? Michael Zürn
Part IV. Constitutional Crisis and Institutional Reform: 14. Deliberative Innovations and the (Re-) Inclusion of Disadvantaged and Disaffected Citizens André Bächtiger and Vanessa Schwaiger
15. Electoral Democracies and Democratic Innovations: An Agenda Mark E. Warren.

Subject Areas: Comparative politics [JPB], Political science & theory [JPA], Politics & government [JP]