Suzanne Dovi
Biographic Data
| ID | 1047593 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Suzanne Dovi |
| GIVEN NAMES | Suzanne |
| FAMILY NAME | Dovi |
| SIGNATURE | DOVI S |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Arizona |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0637-6805 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 339 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1995 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
On Political Misogyny
Many political scientists hold that vitriolic speech against high-profile women has only negligible effects on other women in politics. They also contend that the prevalence of such vitriol is consistent with gender bias having no significant negative impact on most women in politics. This article argues that these sanguine positions rest on inadequate and untested assumptions regarding misogyny, and the role it plays in politics. In the service …
Reevaluating the Contingent “Yes: Essays on “Should Blacks Represent Blacks and Women Represent Women?” – Erratum
Reevaluating the Contingent “Yes: Essays on “Should Blacks Represent Blacks and Women Represent Women
Underlying almost every conversation about descriptive representation are questions about whether gender does and should always matter in politics. More specifically, those conversations rest on assumptions about whether political scientists should always evaluate the performance of political actors based on their membership in historically disadvantaged groups. How one answers that question can be problematic: A “yes” suggests that democratic ci…
Our Declaration
This essay is part of a special issue celebrating 50 years of Political Theory. The ambition of the editors was to mark this half century not with a retrospective but with a confabulation of futures. Contributors were asked: What will political theory look and sound like in the next century and beyond? What claims might political theorists or their descendants be making in ten, twenty-five, fifty, a hundred years’ time? How might they vindicate t…
Women “doing” the judiciary: Rethinking the justice argument for descriptive representation
In this paper, we explore how political scientists can improve the study of gender diversity in the judiciary by drawing on the normative and theoretical literature on representation generally, and on descriptive representation specifically. In particular, we examine an undertheorized argument within the literature on descriptive representation, namely, the justice argument. Using Nancy Fraser's discussion of two justice frameworks, specifically,…
What’s Missing? A Typology of Political Absence
Most political scientists studying representation adopt some version of Hanna Pitkin's definition of representation as "making present what is absent." Their emphasis is on the "making present"—that is, on how representatives gain access, voice, and decision-making authority. Although presence is an essential component of representation, understanding and properly evaluating representation requires attending not only to how representation makes g…
Misogyny and transformations
Contemporary politics is marked by both misogyny and transformations. This article offers one way to understand the relationship between these two phenomena, namely, as a double bind. Such an understanding recognises how transformations and misogyny can be mutually constituted and implicated in ways that have not been adequately acknowledged. Some women benefit from misogyny and some women are harmed by transformations. The author identifies four…
Political and ethical action in the age of Trump
Why We Need to Return to the Ethics of Political Representation
An abstract is not available for this content. As you have access to this content, full HTML content is provided on this page. A PDF of this content is also available in through the 'Save PDF' action button
Good Representatives Foster Autonomy
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Representation in Context: Constructing Victims’ Claims in the International Criminal Court
Drawing on recent criticisms of victim representation in the International Criminal Court (ICC), I examine the challenges of claim-making in a particular institutional context. I use this case study to make three points about Michael Saward's general theory of representation. First, I argue that Saward's general criteria need to be modified in light of an institution's particular norms, capacities, and directives. Second, I show that retrospectiv…
Hanna Pitkin, The Concept of Representation
This chapter reviews Hanna Pitkin’s seminal book, The Concept of Representation, her most important and lasting contribution to political philosophy. Using Ludwig Wittgenstein’s ordinary-language theory, Pitkin explores the semantic landscape and the etymology of the concept of representation. In particular, she expounds on the meaning of representation by proposing four different views of representation: formalistic representation, descriptive r…
In Praise of Exclusion
Most theoretical accounts of descriptive representation focus almost exclusively on the question, "Why do certain groups need to be brought into democratic institutions?" They emphasize the democratic gains obtained through adding more voices to the political arena. However, in order to improve the representation of historically disadvantaged groups, democratic theorists need to consider when it is justifiable, desirable, and even morally necessa…
The Good Representative
Theorizing Women's Representation in the United States
From the perspective of women's experiences, it is easy to see that democratic representative institutions can be tools of oppression. After all, formal democratic institutions have been either a form of governance that has only ruled over women (e.g., women were formally prohibited from holding elected offices) or a form of governance in which women have ruled and been ruled unequally (e.g., the number of female representatives have been signifi…
The Concept of Constituency: Political Representation, Democratic Legitimacy, and Institutional Design
The Concept of Constituency: Political Representation, Democratic Legitimacy, and Institutional Design. By Andrew Rehfeld. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. 280p. $75.00. Most democratic theorists do not spend much time defining, let alone discussing, the concept of constituency. They assume that what is crucial to democratic institutions is the manner in which votes are distributed (equally and justly), not how democratic institutions …
Guilt and the Problem of Dirty Hands
Preferable Descriptive Representatives: Will Just Any Woman, Black, or Latino Do
A body of theoretical literature has developed that explains why historically disadvantaged groups should be represented by members of those groups. Such representatives are commonly referred to as descriptive representatives. This literature has also endorsed various institutional reforms aimed at increasing the number of descriptive representatives, e.g., party list quotas, racial districting, and proportional representation. However, this lite…
Response to Isaac
Making the World Safe for Hypocrisy
The United States' commitment to ending human rights abuses is often accused of being hypocritical. Such accusations are sometimes dismissed by pointing out how hypocrisy is an inextricable part of politics. In Ordinary Vices, Judith Shklar claims that hypocrisy is a by-product of liberal commitments. In this paper, I reevaluate the relationship between hypocrisy and the liberal commitment to preventing human rights abuses. To see hypocrisy as an…
Mill, Nietzsche, and the Identity of Postmodern Liberalism
Contemporary liberal political theory is now faced with the task of reconciling its attachment to traditional liberal political commitments with visions of the self and the community that increasingly emphasize creativity and contingency. If the principles that guide liberal common life are simply historically specific cultural creations, how can defenders of those principles respond to the challenges of very different cultures, and on what groun…
Preferable Descriptive Representatives: Will Just Any Woman, Black, or Latino Do
A body of theoretical literature has developed that explains why historically disadvantaged groups should be represented by members of those groups. Such representatives are commonly referred to as descriptive representatives. This literature has also endorsed various institutional reforms aimed at increasing the number of descriptive representatives, e.g., party list quotas, racial districting, and proportional representation. However, this lite…
Theorizing Women's Representation in the United States
From the perspective of women's experiences, it is easy to see that democratic representative institutions can be tools of oppression. After all, formal democratic institutions have been either a form of governance that has only ruled over women (e.g., women were formally prohibited from holding elected offices) or a form of governance in which women have ruled and been ruled unequally (e.g., the number of female representatives have been signifi…
In Praise of Exclusion
Most theoretical accounts of descriptive representation focus almost exclusively on the question, "Why do certain groups need to be brought into democratic institutions?" They emphasize the democratic gains obtained through adding more voices to the political arena. However, in order to improve the representation of historically disadvantaged groups, democratic theorists need to consider when it is justifiable, desirable, and even morally necessa…
What’s Missing? A Typology of Political Absence
Most political scientists studying representation adopt some version of Hanna Pitkin's definition of representation as "making present what is absent." Their emphasis is on the "making present"—that is, on how representatives gain access, voice, and decision-making authority. Although presence is an essential component of representation, understanding and properly evaluating representation requires attending not only to how representation makes g…
Making the World Safe for Hypocrisy
The United States' commitment to ending human rights abuses is often accused of being hypocritical. Such accusations are sometimes dismissed by pointing out how hypocrisy is an inextricable part of politics. In Ordinary Vices, Judith Shklar claims that hypocrisy is a by-product of liberal commitments. In this paper, I reevaluate the relationship between hypocrisy and the liberal commitment to preventing human rights abuses. To see hypocrisy as an…
The Concept of Constituency: Political Representation, Democratic Legitimacy, and Institutional Design
The Concept of Constituency: Political Representation, Democratic Legitimacy, and Institutional Design. By Andrew Rehfeld. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. 280p. $75.00. Most democratic theorists do not spend much time defining, let alone discussing, the concept of constituency. They assume that what is crucial to democratic institutions is the manner in which votes are distributed (equally and justly), not how democratic institutions …
Representation in Context: Constructing Victims’ Claims in the International Criminal Court
Drawing on recent criticisms of victim representation in the International Criminal Court (ICC), I examine the challenges of claim-making in a particular institutional context. I use this case study to make three points about Michael Saward's general theory of representation. First, I argue that Saward's general criteria need to be modified in light of an institution's particular norms, capacities, and directives. Second, I show that retrospectiv…
Mill, Nietzsche, and the Identity of Postmodern Liberalism
Contemporary liberal political theory is now faced with the task of reconciling its attachment to traditional liberal political commitments with visions of the self and the community that increasingly emphasize creativity and contingency. If the principles that guide liberal common life are simply historically specific cultural creations, how can defenders of those principles respond to the challenges of very different cultures, and on what groun…
On Political Misogyny
Many political scientists hold that vitriolic speech against high-profile women has only negligible effects on other women in politics. They also contend that the prevalence of such vitriol is consistent with gender bias having no significant negative impact on most women in politics. This article argues that these sanguine positions rest on inadequate and untested assumptions regarding misogyny, and the role it plays in politics. In the service …
Reevaluating the Contingent “Yes: Essays on “Should Blacks Represent Blacks and Women Represent Women
Underlying almost every conversation about descriptive representation are questions about whether gender does and should always matter in politics. More specifically, those conversations rest on assumptions about whether political scientists should always evaluate the performance of political actors based on their membership in historically disadvantaged groups. How one answers that question can be problematic: A “yes” suggests that democratic ci…
Women “doing” the judiciary: Rethinking the justice argument for descriptive representation
In this paper, we explore how political scientists can improve the study of gender diversity in the judiciary by drawing on the normative and theoretical literature on representation generally, and on descriptive representation specifically. In particular, we examine an undertheorized argument within the literature on descriptive representation, namely, the justice argument. Using Nancy Fraser's discussion of two justice frameworks, specifically,…
Why We Need to Return to the Ethics of Political Representation
An abstract is not available for this content. As you have access to this content, full HTML content is provided on this page. A PDF of this content is also available in through the 'Save PDF' action button
Good Representatives Foster Autonomy
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Mill, Nietzsche, and the Identity of Postmodern Liberalism
Contemporary liberal political theory is now faced with the task of reconciling its attachment to traditional liberal political commitments with visions of the self and the community that increasingly emphasize creativity and contingency. If the principles that guide liberal common life are simply historically specific cultural creations, how can defenders of those principles respond to the challenges of very different cultures, and on what groun…
Response to Isaac
Making the World Safe for Hypocrisy
The United States' commitment to ending human rights abuses is often accused of being hypocritical. Such accusations are sometimes dismissed by pointing out how hypocrisy is an inextricable part of politics. In Ordinary Vices, Judith Shklar claims that hypocrisy is a by-product of liberal commitments. In this paper, I reevaluate the relationship between hypocrisy and the liberal commitment to preventing human rights abuses. To see hypocrisy as an…
Preferable Descriptive Representatives: Will Just Any Woman, Black, or Latino Do
A body of theoretical literature has developed that explains why historically disadvantaged groups should be represented by members of those groups. Such representatives are commonly referred to as descriptive representatives. This literature has also endorsed various institutional reforms aimed at increasing the number of descriptive representatives, e.g., party list quotas, racial districting, and proportional representation. However, this lite…
Guilt and the Problem of Dirty Hands
The Concept of Constituency: Political Representation, Democratic Legitimacy, and Institutional Design
The Concept of Constituency: Political Representation, Democratic Legitimacy, and Institutional Design. By Andrew Rehfeld. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. 280p. $75.00. Most democratic theorists do not spend much time defining, let alone discussing, the concept of constituency. They assume that what is crucial to democratic institutions is the manner in which votes are distributed (equally and justly), not how democratic institutions …
The Good Representative
Theorizing Women's Representation in the United States
From the perspective of women's experiences, it is easy to see that democratic representative institutions can be tools of oppression. After all, formal democratic institutions have been either a form of governance that has only ruled over women (e.g., women were formally prohibited from holding elected offices) or a form of governance in which women have ruled and been ruled unequally (e.g., the number of female representatives have been signifi…
In Praise of Exclusion
Most theoretical accounts of descriptive representation focus almost exclusively on the question, "Why do certain groups need to be brought into democratic institutions?" They emphasize the democratic gains obtained through adding more voices to the political arena. However, in order to improve the representation of historically disadvantaged groups, democratic theorists need to consider when it is justifiable, desirable, and even morally necessa…
Hanna Pitkin, The Concept of Representation
This chapter reviews Hanna Pitkin’s seminal book, The Concept of Representation, her most important and lasting contribution to political philosophy. Using Ludwig Wittgenstein’s ordinary-language theory, Pitkin explores the semantic landscape and the etymology of the concept of representation. In particular, she expounds on the meaning of representation by proposing four different views of representation: formalistic representation, descriptive r…
Representation in Context: Constructing Victims’ Claims in the International Criminal Court
Drawing on recent criticisms of victim representation in the International Criminal Court (ICC), I examine the challenges of claim-making in a particular institutional context. I use this case study to make three points about Michael Saward's general theory of representation. First, I argue that Saward's general criteria need to be modified in light of an institution's particular norms, capacities, and directives. Second, I show that retrospectiv…
Misogyny and transformations
Contemporary politics is marked by both misogyny and transformations. This article offers one way to understand the relationship between these two phenomena, namely, as a double bind. Such an understanding recognises how transformations and misogyny can be mutually constituted and implicated in ways that have not been adequately acknowledged. Some women benefit from misogyny and some women are harmed by transformations. The author identifies four…
Political and ethical action in the age of Trump
Why We Need to Return to the Ethics of Political Representation
An abstract is not available for this content. As you have access to this content, full HTML content is provided on this page. A PDF of this content is also available in through the 'Save PDF' action button
Good Representatives Foster Autonomy
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Women “doing” the judiciary: Rethinking the justice argument for descriptive representation
In this paper, we explore how political scientists can improve the study of gender diversity in the judiciary by drawing on the normative and theoretical literature on representation generally, and on descriptive representation specifically. In particular, we examine an undertheorized argument within the literature on descriptive representation, namely, the justice argument. Using Nancy Fraser's discussion of two justice frameworks, specifically,…
What’s Missing? A Typology of Political Absence
Most political scientists studying representation adopt some version of Hanna Pitkin's definition of representation as "making present what is absent." Their emphasis is on the "making present"—that is, on how representatives gain access, voice, and decision-making authority. Although presence is an essential component of representation, understanding and properly evaluating representation requires attending not only to how representation makes g…
Reevaluating the Contingent “Yes: Essays on “Should Blacks Represent Blacks and Women Represent Women?” – Erratum
Reevaluating the Contingent “Yes: Essays on “Should Blacks Represent Blacks and Women Represent Women
Underlying almost every conversation about descriptive representation are questions about whether gender does and should always matter in politics. More specifically, those conversations rest on assumptions about whether political scientists should always evaluate the performance of political actors based on their membership in historically disadvantaged groups. How one answers that question can be problematic: A “yes” suggests that democratic ci…
Our Declaration
This essay is part of a special issue celebrating 50 years of Political Theory. The ambition of the editors was to mark this half century not with a retrospective but with a confabulation of futures. Contributors were asked: What will political theory look and sound like in the next century and beyond? What claims might political theorists or their descendants be making in ten, twenty-five, fifty, a hundred years’ time? How might they vindicate t…
On Political Misogyny
Many political scientists hold that vitriolic speech against high-profile women has only negligible effects on other women in politics. They also contend that the prevalence of such vitriol is consistent with gender bias having no significant negative impact on most women in politics. This article argues that these sanguine positions rest on inadequate and untested assumptions regarding misogyny, and the role it plays in politics. In the service …
Law (19 works) · Political science (19 works) · Politics (17 works) · Law (16 works) · Sociology (16 works) · Gender Politics and Representation (9 works) · Representation (politics (8 works) · Epistemology (7 works) · Psychology (7 works) · Computer Science (6 works)