Political Representation in Sweden

Abstract

Apparently, political representation is an elusive phenomenon. ‚In spite of many centuries of theoretical effort‘, says Heinz Eulau, ‘we cannot say what representation is’¹. Philip Converse and Roy Pierce are equally harsh in their judgements and talk about the literature on the concept of political representation as ‘riddled with confusion’². Hanna Pitkin, the author of the modern classic, The Concept of Representation (1967), is also very critical when she summarizes the literature. Old conceptual pillars like authorization and accountability she finds formalistic and devoid of content: ‘Neither (concept) can tell us anything about what goes on during representation, how a representative ought to act... whether he has represented well or badly.’ ³ Notions such as that legislatures should be mirror images of populations (descriptive representation) and more lofty concepts like that of symbolic representation are dismissed by Pitkin as unrealistic and incomplete.

Zuerst erschienen in Scandinavian Political Studies, Bd. 12 (1989). Die Herausgeber bedanken sich beim Autor für die Erlaubnis, den Aufsatz hier wieder abzudrucken.