This course introduces students to both classic and contemporary research on political representation. During the first section of the course, we discuss theories of representation and examine the validity of those theories in the context of the political aptitude of citizens and structural dilemmas for representation. The second section of the course will focus on different empirical approaches to studying representation. The third section focuses on the relationship between inequality (along lines of race, ethnicity, gender, and class) and representation. Throughout the semester, we will address several related questions: What do we mean by “representation?” How do different institutional structures affect the representation that public officials provide to citizens? How do these structures influence the exchange of information among public officials and citizens? To what extent do public officials manipulate rules and structures to increase or decrease their latitude in representing citizens’ interests or in determining whose interests are represented? What is the capacity of the electorate to hold representatives accountable?
GOV 2306