Non Satis Surrogate Representation: Normative Democracy and Noncitizens in U.S. Schools

• In Event: Roundtable Session 32
  In Roundtable Session: Immigrant Rights, Citizenship Status, and Language Policy

Abstract

This case study uses the local school district as a unit of analysis to explore the political rights of non-citizens in the United States. Using representation as a framework, the researchers explore refugee influences on the decision-making processes of the district with particular emphasis on forms of representation available to the non-citizen. Findings suggest that while surrogate and latent forms of representation are available to the non-citizen at the district level, both insufficiently describe how refugees and decision-making elites viewed representation. Consequently, the researchers theorize new constructs to describe forms of representation occurring at the research site: transnational surrogate representation and deferential representation. Researchers then consider the ramifications of such representation on normative democratic theory and educational policy.

Authors

• Patricia L. Hanna, The Ohio State University

• Ann M. Allen, The Ohio State University