Political Representation: The Concept Of Political Representation

nothing but making citizens' voices, opinions, and perspectives “present” in the public policy making processes (11). Political representation occurs when political representatives not only speak but also advocate, symbolize, and act on behalf of the vast majority of people in the political arena. In short, political representation is said to be a kind of political assistance to the people at large. This seemingly straightforward definition, however, is squarely inadequate as it stands because it leaves the concept of political representation underspecified. The concept of political representation has multiple and competing dimensions. Our common understanding of political representation is one that contains different and conflicting conceptions of how political representatives should represent and hence holds representatives to standards that are mutually incompatible. In leaving these dimensions underspecified, this definition fails to capture this paradoxical character of the concept.
Political representation usually

They stress on the need for order and authority in any polity which are best maintained by the Executive and the Parliament. Hobbes particularly eulogized the authority of the monarch. The reactionary theory largely lends credence to the superior knowledge and wisdom of the politicians who are regarded as the best custodians of public interest. People’s representatives have a very limited role in this scheme of things – to convey the popular feelings for their consideration and decision .It is in fact an elitist theory with no provision of public control. This theory is democratic only so long as it accepts the primacy of public interest in policy-making. But it is undemocratic in practice because it sets aside the democratic procedure (14).
Conservative theory of