Political representation and democratic agency.

Viewed from the ideal of direct democracy, representation is traditionally considered either as an obstacle to or even as downright opposed to democratic participation. However, recent philosophical research, partly realized within our own research group (RIPPLE), has pointed out that politics is intrinsically representational in nature. If that is the case, then participation or, more generally, democratic agency: the citizen‟s active engaging in democratic rule, must be reconceived in terms of representation, viz. must itself be understood as inherently representational in nature if it is to be politically or democratically effective and meaningful. The present research project intends to develop such a representational understanding of democratic agency, both on the level of the established representative institutions and on the level of what always and inevitably is excluded by such institutions. By inquiring into the representational nature of political and democratic agency, we not only want to contribute to a more consistent and encompassing view of democracy. We also intend to develop the much-needed theoretical perspective for a more sophisticated understanding of the (representational) logic behind contemporary political phenomena such as populism (in western democracies), new social movements (globally) and forms of popular resistance or rebellion (e.g. in Arab countries, today).

Keywords:Democratic Agency, Constituent Power, Populism, Political Representation, Democracy

Disciplines:Theology and religious studies, Other philosophy, ethics and religious studies not elsewhere classified