Constituents, Representatives and the Dual Politics of Democratic Representation

The article divides as follows. Section I challenges the dominant approach to representation as an activity that largely rest on the shoulders of elected representatives to propose a relational understanding of democratic representation as resting on both active constituents and representatives. In this view, constituents’ activities are as legitimate and integral part of the practice of representation as elected representatives are. Section II analyses the two dimensions that are always present in the practice of democratic representation: a mirror and a creative one and how the latter relates to the issue of constituent and representative politics. Section III focuses on the debate about the democratic status and credentials of advocacy NGOs arguing that inherited notions of political accountability are inadequate as a conceptual tool to evaluate the role and contribution of advocacy organizations to the practice of democratic representation. The concluding sections argues for the need to redirect the debate from the issue of democratic credentials to the question of building bridging mechanisms to establish a more fluid communication between constituent and representatives that could result on a significant improvement of the degree of influence of the latter on decision-making structures.