Conceptions of Democracy and Styles of Representation

• In Event: Conceptions of Democracy among German and American Citizens and Political Elites

Abstract

There is a wide amount of research on styles of representation among representatives, distinguishing between trustees, party delegates and voter delegates, but most studies focus on system, party, and career variables as determinants while individual attitudes towards democracy are rarely included. Like citizens, representatives can have different understandings of democracy that can be expected to affect their behavior as democratic actors. Thus, this paper explores how conceptions of democracy – focusing on liberal elitist and populist majoritarian understandings – affect representatives’ styles of representation. The analyses are based on novel data from a survey of legislators in Germany and the United States. Indeed, the results show the conceptions of democracy playing a key role, particularly in the United States. While liberal elitist conceptions make a trustee style more likely, populist conceptions appear to promote a voter delegate style.

Author

• Leonard Häfner, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz