Political Representation: The Political Theory Of Political Representations

nothing but making citizens' voices, opinions, and perspectives “present” in the public policy making processes (11). When political representatives not only speak but also advocate and champion the cause of the people, both symbolize and act on behalf of the vast majority of people in the political arena, political representation then occurs. In essence, political representation refers to kind of political assistance that the political representatives give to the people at large. This seemingly straightforward definition, however, is squarely not sufficient and inadequate because it leaves the concept of political representation underspecified and does not convey the full meaning of the term. The concept of political representation carries

This theory exemplifies the true spirit of democracy. It upholds equality of all people and argues that all are endowed with equal capability to rule. The liberal theory lays great stress on the wisdom of the masses and treats their representatives only as their agents or messengers who are not only answerable to the masses but also act as per the dictates of the general public. In its view, representatives of the people are their true representatives. Instead of using their own judgment they must translate the judgement of their constituents into concrete policy proposals.

Radical Theory of representation:- Its chief exponents are Jean-Jaques Rousseau(1712-78) and the New Left. This theory holds wisdom of the people in highest esteem and goes to the extent of deprecating representative government itself. It holds that wisdom of the people is bound to be diluted through the process of representation. The radical theory claims to be most progressive as it pays highest importance to the people, but it tends to rule out representation itself. Hence the liberal theory of representation may be treated a the most suited to the requirements of representative democracy(15). OTHER BACKWARD CLASSES POPULATION IN