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

This book describes the conceptual, historical and normative features of the electoral constituency.

Andrew Rehfeld (Author)

9780521057325, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 24 March 2008

280 pages, 8 tables
23.2 x 15.6 x 1.5 cm, 0.402 kg

“Convincing and well argued…Rehfeld's book represents a rare bread of academic discussion that is prepared to challenge the apparent orthodoxy of a given discussion by raising the sorts of questions that many people simply overlook”
-Matt McCullock, Loughborough University H-Net “In the current climate of complete and utter confusion, even despair, concerning the direction of redistricting practices, Rehfeld’s project is important, laudable and most welcome…The book is written with exceptional clarity, engagingly advances a rich argument, and performs a valuable service by challenging us to pay careful attention to positions and arguments that, as Rehfeld persuasively shows, have not been subjected to adequate scrutiny.”
James A. Gardner, University of Buffalo Election Law Journal

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.

Part I. The Concept of Constituency and Legitimate Political Representation: 1. Introduction: constituency, legitimacy, and political representation
2. The concept of constituency
Part II. On the Silence of the Land: Territorial Constituencies in American History: 3. Justifications and the use of history
4. The English and Colonial origins of territorial constituencies in the United States
5. Territorial districts at the American Founding
6. Territorial representation as an enabler of democratic values
Part III. Standards and Reform: 7. Territory reconsidered
8. On legitimate representation and a default position: permanent, involuntary, heterogeneous constituencies
9. The random constituency
Epilogue: the random constituency 50 years from now.

Subject Areas: Constitution: government & the state [JPHC], Political science & theory [JPA], Politics & government [JP], Regional studies [GTB]