3. Political Responsiveness: A Constructivist Re-appraisal

• In Event: Political Representation, Power and Inequalities

Abstract

This paper revisits Hanna Pitkin’s (1967) The Concept of Representation and seeks to demonstrate the continuing relevance of her conception of responsiveness for theorizing the quality of political representation. In a widely remarked contribution, Andrew Sabl (2015) identified an empirical-normative divide in the literature on political representation and situated the concept of responsiveness at its heart. While empiricists prioritize responsiveness (or congruence between representatives’ acts and citizens’ preferences), political theorists advance alternative indicators of democratic quality. Because citizens’ preferences are endogenous (Sunstein 1991; Kuklinski and Segura 1995; Jacobs and Shapiro 2000), theorists stress the need to also consider the broader functioning of representative systems, their underlying power relations, and how processes of preference formation are affected by them (cf. Disch 2011; 2015).
Although I confer with Sabl (2015) on the need for additional normative criteria, I disagree with his readiness to cede responsiveness to the empiricists’ side. Drawing on Hanna Pitkin’s (1967) work, I first argue that responsiveness cannot be reduced to congruence: responsiveness is most relevant when conflict arises between those represented and their representatives or when a compromise needs to be found among those represented (cf. Eulau and Karps 1977). I second argue that responsiveness, or representatives’ willingness to listen and offer a response to counter-claimants, is precisely what makes democratic politics possible (cf. Bickford 1996; Dobson 2014). Responsiveness is not primarily a feature of good representation, but of democratic relations (cf. Rubenstein 2014): the act of responding to citizens’ claims underscores the equal moral standing of citizens, or their right to claim a stake in the representations that affect them. As the recognition of that right, responsiveness may prevent conflict from becoming antagonistic; drawing citizens into a virtuous cycle of reflexive judgment with their representatives.

Author

• Eline M. Severs, Vrije Universiteit Brussel