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Comparative Politics and Government

Notes distribution of seats or even the selection of the representatives on the basis of some proportion,
rather it should be according to the occupational composition of the society. Thus, it is not only a
reaction against the system of territorial representation, it is also against the systems of proportional
and minority representations as discussed above. The keynote of this idea is that the social, economic
and professional groups, having special interests of their own should find a place in the national
legislature. The so-called ‘democratic’ system of territorial representation should, thus, “be replaced
by a system of professional, occupational or functional representation which would disregard territorial
lines which are largely artificial and donot mark off precisely the boundaries which separate the real
interests of the various classes of which modern societies are composed.”
The idea of functional representation derives inspiration from the social set up prevalent in the middle
ages when community groups had their autonomous character. Thus, a section of the evolutionary
socialists, known as the Guild Socialists, presented it in a revised form that sought to impart a new
meaning to the idea of democracy. For instance, Duguit said that the general will could find proper
expression through the representation of various groups. Well-known English Fabians like Sidney
Webb and Mrs Beatrice Webb recommended a new constitution for the ‘socialist commonwealth of
Britain’ based on the principle of functional representation. However, its best exponent is G.D.H.
Cole who said: “All true and democratic representation is, therefore, functional representation... It
follows that there must be in the society as many separately elected groups of representatives as
there are distinct groups of functions to be performed”.
The idea of functional representation took a concrete form in the post-first World War period. The
territorial system of representation was replaced in Russia by a system based on the vocational principle
for the All-Russian Congress in which miners, iron workers, farmers, professional men and other
classes were allowed to choose their own representatives without regard to territorial lines. The
same idea found its application in Italy where the Senate was reorganised on the functional basis as
desired by Mussolini’s doctrine of a corporate state. Various social, industrial and cultural organisations
were also given representation in the chamber of deputies. The Weimer constitution of 1919 also
created a national economic council in Germany representing special interests of labour, capital and
consumers. The constitutions of Yugoslavia and Poland provided for the establishment of advisory
councils (consisting of functional representatives) to collaborate with the legislature in the formulation
of projects of legislation in regard to social and economic problems. Its example could be seen in
Indonesia (before 1965) when President Soekarno, in accordance with his plan of ‘Guided Democracy,’
reorganised his parliament in a way consisting of the representatives of the armed forces, women,
local bodies and others. It was virtually a model of composite legislature in which the idea of functional
democracy was applied to some extent. President Suharto revived it in his People’s Consultative
Assembly having 920 members out of which 460 constituted the parliament.

What do you mean by Proxy System?

Though the idea of functional representation has an attraction of its own, its demerits far outweigh
its merits. It makes the legislature an arena of conflicting functional groups with the result that sectional
interests over-ride national interest. It is also a very tedious job to make a standard census of all social
and economic occupations and then decide in terms of their adequate representation. Thus, it is
rightly said that an equitable distribution of representation of various interests is impossible. It lays
too much emphasis on the autonomy of the social groups that becomes a sort of potential challenge to
the sovereign authority of the state. Prof. Herman Finer well visualises that this idea “does not proceed
from the integration of the community and then tempers this with the representation of differences,
but it proceeds at once from the postulate of integration into a large number of separate communities
whose ultimate integration is thenceforward to be fabricated.” Coker and Rodee, while attacking the

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