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Unit 12: Politics of Representation and Participation

them have upon governmental action is with their expressed approval, exercised on their behalf by a Notes
small number among them, with binding effects upon those represented.”
The two definitions of representation, given above, deserve examination and comments. As Friedrich
suggests, “we speak advisedly of influence rather than participation or control, since the large number
of citizens is not very likely to participate in or effectively to control governmental action. We use the
general expression ‘governmental action’ rather than legislation, because all kinds of governmental
activities might be subjected to popular influence. By suggesting further, that influence of a part of
citizenry, as well as the whole, may be represented, we recognise the representative quality of the
American Senate. Group representation is more ancient than the representation of the whole people
in any case. Finally, the most essential part of this descriptive definition is contained in the phrase:
‘with the expressed approval’. This approval is expressed presumably in the constitutional provisions
regarding representative institutions — the particular institutions of that constitutional order, as
well as the general principle. In short, it is this phrase that we recognise as the constitutional setting
of such representation.

What do you mean by Representation?

Curtis is of the view that the term ‘representation’ “is inherently ambiguous” and, for this reason,
representative government “may have different meanings.” While carrying his point further, he says:
“For some it is analogous to the activity of a lawyer acting on behalf of a client; for others it means
that the representer approximates the characteristics of the represented. Some see the representers as
embodying the declared interests of the represented; others view his function as acting on behalf of
his constituents in the way he thinks most desirable.” The basic reason is that different attitudes on
representation “mirror the various views on the relationship between the rulers and the ruled.” Samuel
Beer has pointed out five typologies of views in this connection:
1. The traditional conservative position based on the desirability of order, degree, authority and
hierarchy holds that the common welfare is represented by a monarch or a government charged
with formulating a political programme.
2. The traditional whig or aristocratic view is based on the idea of a balanced constitution
symbolising the differences of rank in the society. Men of reason and judgment deliberate on
affairs without the need for a mandate from an electorate to guide or bind them, while an
elected body like the house of Commons represented the common interest.
3. The liberal view sees national welfare and common good as represented by a parliamentary
assembly made up of individuals rather than of corporate bodies, though under middle class
domination, emphasising a property qualification for the franchise and based on approximate
quality of electoral areas.
4. For men of radical view, representation is based on the unified will of the people binding
individuals together. This will, regarded as the ultimate sovereign in the community, is in
practice the will of the majority, expressed either directly or through interest groups.
5. Modern conservative democrats and modern socialist democrats see representation in terms of
a government based on disciplined political parties with social classes as basic units, and also
related to functional groups. The voters are thus faced with the situation of choosing either of
the two parties (representing social classes) for the sake of their representation.
While we may agree with or differ from the five-fold categorisation of Beer, we may safely endorse
the view of Prof. Ball that the theories of representation may be put into two broad categories —
liberal-democratic and collectivist-socialist. The liberal-democratic theories of representation have
these characteristics.

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