Representative Turn : New Way of Thinking about the Relationship between Representation and Democracy
2017
Abstract
The three reviewed books constitute part of a representative turn that attempts to restore the value of representation to democracy in changed circumstances under which representative democracy operates, such as the rise of new actors (nongovernmental organizations, social movements), non-electoral forms of representation or the existence of representatives beyond boundaries of the nation-state. I argue that the authors of representative turn manage to respond to current challenges by conceptualizing representation as a dynamic process of making and receiving representative claims that include new forms of representation while still keeping a significant role of traditional formal representative institutions.