IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ecl/harjfk/rwp17-045.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Recursive Representation in the Representative System

Author

Listed:
  • Mansbridge, Jane

    (Harvard University)

Abstract

In recursive representation both representatives and constituents take in what the other is saying, update, revise, and respond on the basis of their own experience, then listen to the others’ response to their responses and respond to that accordingly. Recursive representation should replace or at least supplement the traditional norm of “two-way communication†as a component of the larger ideal of good political representation across the representative system. The ideal is aspirational (“regulative†) and may in many actual instances have prohibitive costs, but it can serve as a standard toward which to aspire. Currently the most active and affluent donors in democracies have access to recursive representation even at the national scale, as do some constituents at local levels. Even on the scale of a large nation-state, some currently available mechanisms make it feasible to approach this ideal more fully with average and even relatively marginal constituents. Recursive representation serves as an aspirational ideal in the arenas of administrative and societal representation as well as the arena of legislative/electoral representation.

Suggested Citation

  • Mansbridge, Jane, 2017. "Recursive Representation in the Representative System," Working Paper Series rwp17-045, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecl:harjfk:rwp17-045
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://research.hks.harvard.edu/publications/getFile.aspx?Id=1603
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mansbridge, Jane, 2011. "Clarifying the Concept of Representation," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 105(3), pages 621-630, August.
    2. Gay, Claudine, 2001. "The Effect of Black Congressional Representation on Political Participation," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 95(3), pages 589-602, September.
    3. Candelaria Garay, 2007. "Social Policy and Collective Action: Unemployed Workers, Community Associations, and Protest in Argentina," Politics & Society, , vol. 35(2), pages 301-328, June.
    4. David E. Broockman, 2013. "Black Politicians Are More Intrinsically Motivated to Advance Blacks’ Interests: A Field Experiment Manipulating Political Incentives," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 57(3), pages 521-536, July.
    5. Philippe C. Schmitter, 1992. "The Irony of Modern Democracy and Efforts to Improve its Practice," Politics & Society, , vol. 20(4), pages 507-512, December.
    6. Bachrach, Peter & Baratz, Morton S., 1963. "Decisions and Nondecisions: An Analytical Framework," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 57(3), pages 632-642, September.
    7. Lentz, Susan A. & Chaires, Robert H., 2007. "The invention of Peel's principles: A study of policing `textbook' history," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 69-79.
    8. Valerie Heitshusen & Garry Young & David M. Wood, 2005. "Electoral Context and MP Constituency Focus in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 49(1), pages 32-45, January.
    9. Scott E. Page, 2007. "Prologue to The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies," Introductory Chapters, in: The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies, Princeton University Press.
    10. Walker, Jack L., 1983. "The Origins and Maintenance of Interest Groups in America," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 77(2), pages 390-406, June.
    11. Meier, Kenneth John, 1975. "Representative Bureaucracy: An Empirical Analysis," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 69(2), pages 526-542, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Petra Guasti & Brigitte Geissel, 2019. "Saward’s Concept of the Representative Claim Revisited: An Empirical Perspective," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 98-111.
    2. Petra Guasti & Brigitte Geissel, 2019. "Saward’s Concept of the Representative Claim Revisited: An Empirical Perspective," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 98-111.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hoyong Jung, 2023. "Do young politicians make a difference? Evidence from local public expenditure in South Korea," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 473-499, December.
    2. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/4rm8ji0nae9elbggr366la3786 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Frimpong Boamah, Emmanuel, 2018. "Constitutional economics of Ghana’s decentralization," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 256-267.
    4. Olof Åslund & Oskar Nordströum Skans, 2012. "Do Anonymous Job Application Procedures Level the Playing Field?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 65(1), pages 82-107, January.
    5. Kate Parizeau, 2015. "Re-Representing the City: Waste and Public Space in Buenos Aires, Argentina in the Late 2000s," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 47(2), pages 284-299, February.
    6. Zuzana Murdoch & Jarle Trondal & Benny Geys, 2016. "Representative bureaucracy and seconded national government officials in the European Commission," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 10(4), pages 335-349, December.
    7. Gerring, John & Thacker, Strom C. & Lu, Yuan & Huang, Wei, 2015. "Does Diversity Impair Human Development? A Multi-Level Test of the Diversity Debit Hypothesis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 166-188.
    8. Dindo, Pietro & Massari, Filippo, 2020. "The wisdom of the crowd in dynamic economies," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 15(4), November.
    9. Fuchs, Dieter, 1993. "A metatheory of the democratic process," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Institutions and Social Change FS III 93-203, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    10. Willemien Kets & Alvaro Sandroni, 2021. "A Theory of Strategic Uncertainty and Cultural Diversity," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 88(1), pages 287-333.
    11. Suhas D. Parandekar & Evgeny Patarakin & Gulcan Yayla, 2019. "Children Learning to Code," World Bank Publications - Reports 36726, The World Bank Group.
    12. Aga, B.K. & Tesfay, G.B., 2018. "How Should Rural Financial Cooperatives Be Best Organized? Evidence from Ethiopia," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277735, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    13. Jeffrey Goldstein & James K. Hazy & Joyce Silberstang, 2010. "A Complexity Science Model of Social Innovation in Social Enterprise," Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 1(1), pages 101-125, March.
    14. Woll, Cornelia, 2015. "Politics in the interest of capital: A not-so-organized combat," MaxPo Discussion Paper Series 15/2, Max Planck Sciences Po Center on Coping with Instability in Market Societies (MaxPo).
    15. Chad Sparber, 2010. "Racial Diversity and Macroeconomic Productivity across US States and Cities," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(1), pages 71-85.
    16. Corrado Battisti, 2018. "Preparing students for the operational environmental career: an integrated project-based road map for academic programs," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 8(4), pages 573-583, December.
    17. Boateng, Agyenim & Du, Min & Bi, XiaoGang & Lodorfos, George, 2019. "Cultural distance and value creation of cross-border M&A: The moderating role of acquirer characteristics," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 285-295.
    18. Sahide, Muhammad Alif K. & Fisher, Micah R. & Maryudi, Ahmad & Dhiaulhaq, Ahmad & Wulandari, Christine & Kim, Yeon-Su & Giessen, Lukas, 2018. "Deadlock opportunism in contesting conservation areas in Indonesia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 412-424.
    19. Max Nathan & Neil Lee, 2013. "Cultural Diversity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship: Firm-level Evidence from London," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 89(4), pages 367-394, October.
    20. Mavridis, Dimitris, 2015. "Ethnic Diversity and Social Capital in Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 376-395.
    21. Shahid Yusuf, 2012. "From Technological Catch-up to Innovation : The Future of China’s GDP Growth," World Bank Publications - Reports 12781, The World Bank Group.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ecl:harjfk:rwp17-045. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ksharus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.