Voice, trust, and memory

Description:

Does fair political representation for historically disadvantaged groups require their presence in legislative bodies? The intuition that women are best represented by women, and African Americans by other African Americans, has deep historical roots. Yet the conception of fair representation that prevails in American political culture and jurisprudence - what Melissa Williams calls "liberal representation" - concludes that the social identity of legislative representatives does not bear on their quality as representatives. Liberal representation's slogan, "one person, one vote," concludes that the outcome of the electoral and legislative process is fair, whatever it happens to be, so long as no voter is systematically excluded. Challenging this notion, Williams maintains that fair representation is powerfully affected by the identity of legislators and whether some of them are actually members of the historically marginalized groups that are most in need of protection in our society.

subjects: Congresses,  Political activity,  Women in politics,  Minorities,  Representative government and representation,  Ethnic groups,  Equality,  Fairness,  Nationale Minderheit,  Politische Beteiligung,  Femmes en politique,  Minorités,  Régime représentatif,  Ethnicité,  Inégalité sociale,  Activité politique,  Politik,  Impartialité,  Égalité,  Femmes et politique,  Groupes ethniques,  Aspect politique,  Frau,  Gouvernement représentatif,  Représentation politique,  Women,  Minorities, political activity, united states,  Women, political activity,  Minorities--political activity,  Ethnic groups--political activity,  Women--political activity,  Jf1061 .w55 1998,  328.73/07347