Representation

We elect representatives who deliberate in assemblies and then make decisions on our behalf. Also key to modern democracy is the concept of representation itself. It is what links the governed to the government. On the surface this seems an easy concept – we elect representatives to act in our place with effective popular control at elections. But, in reality, representation is a highly contested concept. For example, how and whom does one represent?

Historically, much debate surrounded two main theories of representation. The first, known as the delegate model, holds that representatives are elected to simply convey the will of the public who elected them. A delegate is the conduit for the message but is not expected to add his or her own judgement or preferences to ‘the will of the people’. The second model, championed by Sir Edmund Burke, sees representatives as trustees who are expected to make decisions on behalf of their constituents based on the representative’s considered opinion. A trustee is expected to think for him or her self. According to Burke, ‘your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion.’

Both these theories of representation were developed before the advent of the modern, disciplined political party and both assume that representatives act as independents making policy decisions based on either their own best judgement – trustee model – or on the will of their constituents – the delegate model. This independence is questionable today as representatives are seen more as the ‘foot soldiers’ for their political parties, making collective decisions as political parties rather than as individual MPs.