Representative Democracy and Direct Democracy



Direct or Representative? Topics.
•Is Representative Democracy in Crisis? (Blokker)
•But What Actually is „Representative Democracy“? (3 stages, basic principles).
•Pros
•Cons
•What values might be better served by the respective forms of democracy?
•Philosophical and Political Context

To be represented… What does it mean? (Hana Pitkin)
Symbolic representation


•Formal representation (legal-formal link)
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•Descriptive representation (see also quotas, redistricting)
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• Substantive representation
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•The actual interests of the represented are spoken for.
•Who is the judge of this?
•Does Bono speak for Africa? „I represent a lot of people [in Africa] who have no voice at
all... They haven't asked me to represent them. It's cheeky but I hope they're glad I do. The world
is more malleable than you think.“
•Link between substantive und descriptive representation?

Representative institutions?



Representation and proportionality



Principles (or Benchmarks?) of Representative Democracy
•Election of Representatives in Regular Intervals
•Partial Independence of the Representatives
•Freedom of Public Opinion
•Making Decisions after „Trial by Discussion“

Evolution of Representation
•Parlamentarism (Notables, Deliberation)
•Party Democracy (Stable Party Electorates, Party Discipline)
•Audience Democracy (Media Experts, Less stability, Social Stratification Less Important, Fluidity)
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Reaction paper reflections
•Responsiveness of government (even of oligarchs); Calls for direct democracy as an intuitive
response to perceived exclusion and illegitimacy? Democray, equality and non-domination.
•Bildungsstaat: „Contemporary liberal democracy is essentially an ideology of Bildungsstaat, the
Enlightenment educatory state. The people had to be educated into democracy and into civic public
sphere. Otherwise, parliamentarism had no sense. This original doctrine entailed colonialism and
was accompanied with large-scale violence. Therefore, it was partly forgotten and replaced by the
Schumpeterian “democracy” of self-interested consumers. But this is not a better alternative, which
in the current decades increasingly produces the scandal of “populism.” Bewildered “democrats”
stare at “populists” as their unrecognized shadow: democracy minus Bildung.“ (Artemy Magun)
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Reaction paper reflections
•Zygmunt Baumann and his „echo chamber“
•Supply and demand, how are preferences born and who creates whom? Representation as separation of
powers.
•How much should be the representative bound by wishes of the represented? Listen and obey? Guide
and reflect?