Political Representation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23671376 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Tuija Pulkkinen (0000-0003-0825-3259, University of Helsinki, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Pages | 1-3 |
| Publication date | 2015-12-30 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity and Nationalism (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/9781118663202.wberen574 |
| OpenAlex | W4241015862 |
| ISBN | 9781118663202 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 4 |
Political representation is a theme in democratic theory. Modern democracies are representative democracies, which means that the representatives make political decisions on behalf of the citizens who elect them. According to the idea of popular sovereignty, the will of the people is expressed through its representatives. In all current democracies, the representatives are disproportionately male, and there are patterns of systematic underrepresentation of ethnic and racial minorities in comparison to the general makeup of the population. The presence of women and minorities in representative bodies is increasingly considered to be crucial in a democracy, and therefore means such as quotas have been introduced to guarantee the representation of women as well as that of cultural and linguistic minorities and indigenous populations.
Democracy · Ethnic group · Indigenous · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Population · Representation (politics) · Representative democracy · Sociology · Sovereignty · Theme (computing) · Computer Science · Demography · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Gender Politics and Representation · Gender Studies · Law
| Highly cited | No |
|---|