Skip to main content
Disciplines
Automotive Business IT + Informatics Construction + Real Estate Electrical Engineering + Electronics Energy + Sustainability Insurance + Risk Finance + Banking Management + Leadership Marketing + Sales Mechanical Engineering + Materials
Events
DE
EN
Books
Journals
Topic Page
Marketing
Start single access now
Access for companies
EXTENDED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Published in:
The Palgrave Handbook of Political Elites: Introduction Read chapter Read first chapter

2018 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

23. Representative Elites

Authors : Heinrich Best, Lars Vogel

Published in: The Palgrave Handbook of Political Elites

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan UK

Log in

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config
loading …

Abstract

Members of parliament in representative democracies can be considered as representative elites, since they have decisive impact on policies and the institutional order of the polity and they support or overthrow governments. They are elected and entrusted with the contravening tasks of representing conflicting societal interests and of integrating them into decisions valid for the entire society. Their social setting is constituted by multiple principal-agent relations, competition and antagonistic cooperation. They have to take into account their multiple principals like the population, their party or their regional constituency to maintain their status, which gives them in turn means and resources to curb the risks of this precarious situation. Contradicting interests of citizens and representative elites are thus inevitable, but their traits, social background, recruitment patterns or political professionalization can fuel or temper the resulting antagonism.

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 102.000 Bücher
  • über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Automobil + Motoren
  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
  • Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
  • Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 67.000 Bücher
  • über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Versicherung + Risiko




Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now
previous chapter Elite Sectors: Differentiation and Integration
next chapter Executive Elites
Literature
Aaroe, L. (2012). When Citizens Go Against Elite Directions: Partisan Cues and Contrast Effects on Citizens’ Attitudes. Party Politics, 18, 215–233.CrossRef
Abendschon, S., & Steinmetz, S. (2014). The Gender Gap in Voting Revisited: Women’s Party Preferences in a European Context. Social Politics, 21, 315–344.CrossRef
Aldrich, J. H. (1995). Why Parties?. The Origin and Transformation of Political Parties in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRef
Andeweg, R. B., & Thomassen, J. J. A. (2005). Modes of Political Representation: Toward a New Typology. Legislative Studies Quarterly, 30, 507–528.CrossRef
Asher, H. B. (1973). The Learning of Legislative Norms. American Political Science Review, 67, 499–513.CrossRef
Bell, C. G., & Price, C. M. (1975). The First Term: A Study in Legislative Socialization. Beverly Hills: Sage.
Best, H. (2007a). Cleavage Representation in European Parliamentary History. In M. Cotta & H. Best (Eds.), Democratic Representation in Europe. Diversity, Change, and Convergence. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Best, H. (2007b). New Challenges, New Elites? Changes in the Recruitment and Career Patterns of European Representative Elites. Comparative Sociology, 6, 85–113.CrossRef
Best, H. (2010a). Associated Rivals: Antagonism and Cooperation in the German Political Elite. In J. Higley & H. Best (Eds.), Democratic Elitism: New Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives. Leiden/Boston: Brill.
Best, H. (2010b). Transitions, Transformations and the Role of Elites. In H. Best, K. Blum, M. Fritsch, & R. K. Silbereisen (Eds.), Transitions - Transformations: Trajectories of Social, Economic and Political Change after Communism (=Special Issue 35, Historical Social Research). Köln: Center for Social Research.
Best, H., & Cotta, M. (2000a). Elites Transformation and Modes of Representation since the Mid-Nineteenth Century: Some Theoretical Considerations. In H. Best & M. Cotta (Eds.), Parliamentary Representatives in Europe 1848-2000. Legislative Recruitment and Careers in Eleven European Countries. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Best, H., & Cotta, M. (Eds.). (2000b). Parliamentary Representatives in Europe 1848-2000. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Best, H., & Higley, J. (Eds.). (2010a). Democratic Elitism: New Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives. Leiden/Boston: Brill.
Best, H., & Higley, J. (2010b). Introduction: Democratic Elitism Reappraised. In H. Best & J. Higley (Eds.), Democratic Elitism: New Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives. Leiden: Koninklijke Brill NV.
Best, H., & Vogel, L. (2012). The Emergence and Transformation of Representative Roles. In O. Rozenberg & M. Blomgren (Eds.), Parliamentary Roles in Modern Legislatures. London: Routledge.
Best, H., & Vogel, L. (2014). The Sociology of Legislators and Legislatures. Socialization, Recruitment, and Representation. In K. Strøm, T. Saalfeld, & S. Martin (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Legislative Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bird, K., Saalfeld, T., & Wüst, A. (2011). The Political Representation of Immigrants and Minorities. Voters, Parties and Parliaments in Liberal Democracies. London: Routledge.
Borchert, J., & Zeiss, J. (Eds.). (2003). The Political Class in Advanced Democracies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Boudreau, C., & MacKenzie, S. A. (2014). Informing the Electorate? How Party Cues and Policy Information Affect Public Opinion about Initiatives. American Journal of Political Science, 58, 48–62.CrossRef
Brunell, T. L., & Buchler, J. (2009). Ideological Representation and Competitive Congressional Elections. Electoral Studies, 28, 448–457.CrossRef
Campbell, R., Childs, S., & Lovenduski, J. (2010). Do Women Need Women Representatives? British Journal of Political Science, 40, 171–194.CrossRef
Childs, S., & Krook, M. L. (2008). Critical Mass Theory and Women’s Political Representation. Political Studies, 56, 725–736.CrossRef
Christmas-Best, V., & Kjaer, U. (2007). Why so Few and Why so Slow? : Women as Parliamentary Representatives in Europe from a Longitudinal Perspective. In M. Cotta & H. Best (Eds.), Democratic Representation in Europe. Diversity, Change, and Convergence. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Converse, P. E. (1974). The Nature of Belief System in Mass Publics. In N. R. Luttbeg (Ed.), Public Opinion and Public Policy (2nd ed.). Homewood: The Dorsey Press.
Cotta, M., & Best, H. (2007). Democratic Representation in Europe. Diversity, Change and Convergence. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dalton, R. J. (2014). Citizen Politics. Public Opinion and Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies. Los Angeles: Sage, CQ Press.
Devlin, C., & Elgie, R. (2008). The Effect of Increased Women’s Representation in Parliament: The Case of Rwanda. Parliamentary Affairs, 61, 237–254.CrossRef
Dodson, D. L. (2006). The Impact of Women in Congress (Gender and Politics). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Druckman, J. N. (2014). Pathologies of Studying Public Opinion, Political Communication, and Democratic Responsiveness. Political Communication, 31, 467–492.CrossRef
Esaiasson, P., & Holmberg, S. (1996). Representation from above: Members of Parliament and Representative Democracy in Sweden. Aldershot: Dartmouth.
Eulau, H., Wahlke, J. C., Buchanan, W., & Ferguson, L. C. (1959). The Role of the Representative: Some Empirical Observations of the Theory of Edmund Burke. American Political Science Review, 53, 742–756.CrossRef
Fenno, R. (1962). The House Appropriations Committee as a Political System: The Problem of Integration. American Political Science Review, 56(2), 310–324.CrossRef
Fiorina, M. P. (1973). Electoral Margins, Constituency Influence, and Policy Moderation: A Critical Assessment. American Politics Research, 1, 479–498.CrossRef
François, A., & Grossman, E. (2015). How to Define Legislative Turnover? The Incidence of Measures of Renewal and Levels of Analysis. The Journal of Legislative Studies, 21, 457–475.CrossRef
Franklin, M. N., & Scarrow, S. S. (1999). Making Europeans? The Socializing Power of the European Parliament. In R. Katz & B. Wessels (Eds.), The European Parliament, the National Parliaments, and European Integration. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Franklin, M. N., & Wlezien, C. (1997). The Responsive Public. Issue Salience, Policy Change, and Preferences for European Unification. Journal of Theoretical Politics, 9, 347–363.CrossRef
Gay, C. (2002). Spirals of Trust? The Effect of Descriptive Representation on the Relationship between Citizens and Their Government. American Journal of Political Science, 46, 717–732.CrossRef
Gerber, E. R., & Lewis, J. B. (2004). Beyond the Median: Voter Preferences, District Heterogeneity, and Political Representation. Journal of Political Economy, 112, 1364–1383.CrossRef
Gilardi, F. (2001, September 6–8). Principal-Agent Models Go to Europe. Independent Regulatory Agencies as Ultimate Step of Delegation. Paper presented at the ECPR General Conference, Canterbury.
Hakhverdian, A. (2012). The Causal Flow between Public Opinion and Policy: Government Responsiveness, Leadership, or Counter Movement? West European Politics, 35, 1386–1406.CrossRef
Harden, J. J., & Carsey, T. M. (2012). Balancing Constituency Representation and Party Responsiveness in the US Senate: The Conditioning Effect of State Ideological Heterogeneity. Public Choice, 150, 137–154.CrossRef
Heidar, K., & Pedersen, K. (2006). Party Feminism: Gender Gaps within Nordic Political Parties. Scandinavian Political Studies, 29, 192–218.CrossRef
Higley, J., & Burton, M. (2006). Elite Foundations of Liberal Democracies. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield.
Huber, J. D., & Powell, B. G. (1994). Congruence between Citizens and Policymakers in Two Visions of Liberal Democracy. World Politics, 46, 291–326.CrossRef
Inglehart, R., & Norris, P. (2000). The Developmental Theory of the Gender Gap: Women’s and Men’s Voting Behavior in Global Perspective. International Political Science Review, 21, 441–463.CrossRef
Katz, R., & Mair, P. (1995). Changing Models of Party Organization and Party Democracy. The Emergence of the Cartel Party. Party Politics, 1(1), 5–28.CrossRef
Key, V. O. (1961). Public Opinion and American Democracy. New York: Knopf.
Körösényi, A. (2010). Beyond the Happy Consensus about Democratic Elitism. In H. Best & J. Higley (Eds.), Democratic Elitism. New Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives. Leiden/Boston: Brill.
Kuklinski, J. H., & Hurley, N. L. (1994). On Hearing and Interpreting Political Messages - a Cautionary Tale of Citizen Cue-Taking. Journal of Politics, 56, 729–751.CrossRef
Levinson, D. J. (1959). Role, Personality, and Social Structure in the Organizational Setting. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 58, 170–180.CrossRef
Lipset, S. M., & Rokkan, S. (1967). Cleavage Structures, Party Systems, and Voter Alignments. An Introduction. In S. M. Lipset & S. Rokkan (Eds.), Party Systems and Voter Alignments. Cross-National Perspectives. New York: Free Press.
Lovenduski, J., & Norris, P. (2003). Westminster Women: The Politics of Presence. Political Studies, 51, 84–102.CrossRef
Luna, J., & Zechmeister, E. (2005). Political Representation in Latin America - A Study of Elite-Mass Congruence in Nine Countries. Comparative Political Studies, 38, 388–416.CrossRef
Lupia, A. (2006). Delegation and Its Perils. In K. Strøm, W. C. Müller, & T. Bergman (Eds.), Delegation and Accountability in Parliamentary Democracies (Paperback ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Mansbridge, J. (1999). Should Blacks Represent Blacks and Women Represent Women? A Contingent “Yes”. The Journal of Politics, 61, 628–657.CrossRef
McClosky, H., & Brill, A. (1983). Dimensions of Tolerance. What Americans Believe about Civil Liberties. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Méndez-Lago, M., & Martínez, A. (2002). Political Representation in Spain: An Empirical Analysis of the Perception of Citizens and MPs. The Journal of Legislative Studies, 8, 63–90.CrossRef
Miller, W. E., & Stokes, D. E. (1963). Constituency Influence in Congress. American Political Science Review, 57, 45–56.CrossRef
Miquel, G. P. I., & Snyder, J. M. (2006). Legislative Effectiveness and Legislative Careers. Legislative Studies Quarterly, 31, 347–381.CrossRef
Mosca, G. (1939). The Ruling Class. New York: McGraw Hill.
Mughan, A., Box-Steffensmeier, J., & Scully, R. (1997). Mapping Legislative Socialization. European Journal of Political Research, 33, 93–106.
Müller, W. C., & Strøm, K. (1999). Political Parties and Hard Choices. In W. C. Müller & K. Strøm (Eds.), Policy, Office, or Votes? How Political Parties in Western Europe Make Hard Decisions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRef
Navarro, J., & François, A. (2013). Le cumul des mandats en France. Causes et conséquences. Bruxelles: Éd. de l’Université de Bruxelles.
Norris, P. (1997). Passages to Power: Legislative Recruitment in Advanced Democracies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Norris, P. (Ed.). (1999). Critical Citizens. Global Support for Democratic Governance. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Peffley, M., & Rohrschneider, R. (2007). Elite Beliefs and the Theory of Democratic Elitism. In R. J. Dalton & H.-D. Klingemann (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press.
Pettersson, T. (2010). Pro-Democratic Orientations, Political Shortcuts and Policy Issues: Comparative Analyses of Elite-Mass Congruence in Old and New Democracies. In U. J. van Beek (Ed.), Democracy under Scrutiny: Elites, Citizens, Cultures. Opladen: Verlag Barbara Budrich.
Pitkin, H. F. (1967). The Concept of Representation. Berkeley: Berkely University Press.
Poggione, S. (2004). Exploring Gender Differences in State Legislators’ Policy Preferences. Political Research Quarterly, 57, 305–314.
Powell, B. G. (2004). Political Representation in Comparative Politics. Annual Review of Political Science, 7, 273–296.CrossRef
Putnam, R. D. (1976). The Comparative Study of Political Elites. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
Rae, D. W., & Daudt, H. (1976). Ostrogorski Paradox - Peculiarity of Compound Majority Decision. European Journal of Political Research, 4, 391–398.CrossRef
Reingold, B. (2000). Representing Women. Sex, Gender, and Legislative Behavior in Arizona and California. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Rozenberg, O., & Blomgren, M. (Eds.). (2012). Parliamentary Roles in Modern Legislatures. London: Routledge.
Sawer, M., Tremblay, M., & Trimble, L. J. (Eds.). (2006). Representing Women in Parliament. A Comparative Study. London: Routledge.
Scully, R. (2005). Becoming Europeans? Attitudes, Behaviour, and Socialization in the European Parliament. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRef
Searing, D. D. (1986). A Theory of Political-Socialization - Institutional Support and Deradicalization in Britain. British Journal of Political Science, 16, 341–376.CrossRef
Semenova, E., Edinger, M., & Best, H. (2014). Parliamentary Elites in Central and Eastern Europe. Recruitment and Representation (Routledge Research on Social and Political Elites). London/New York: Routledge.
Shapiro, R. Y. (2011). Public Opinion and American Democracy. Public Opinion Quarterly, 75, 982–1017.CrossRef
Stimson, J. A. (1991). Public Opinion in America. Moods, Cycles, and Swings. Boulder: Westview Press.
Stimson, J. A., MacKuen, M. B., & Erikson, R. S. (1995). Dynamic Representation. American Political Science Review, 89, 543–565.CrossRef
Strøm, K., Müller, W. C., & Bergman, T. (2006). Delegation and Accountability in Parliamentary Democracies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Studlar, D. T., & McAllister, I. (2002). Does a Critical Mass Exist? A Comparative Analysis of Women’s Legislative Representation since 1950. European Journal of Political Research, 41, 233–253.CrossRef
Thomas, S. (1994). How Women Legislate. New York: Oxford University Press.
Thomassen, J., & van Ham, C. (2014). Failing Political Representation or a Change in Kind? Models of Representation and Empirical Trends in Europe. West European Politics, 37, 400–419.CrossRef
Vogel, L. (2016) Zwischen Übereinstimmung und Distanz. Politische Repräsentation in Deutschland als asymmetrische Beziehung von Repräsentationseliten und Bevölkerung. Dissertation, Jena.
von Schoultz, A., & Wass, H. (2016). Beating Issue Agreement: Congruence in the Representational Preferences of Candidates and Voters. Parliamentary Affairs, 69, 136–158.CrossRef
Wangnerud, L. (2000). Testing the Politics of Presence: Women’s Representation in the Swedish Riksdag. Scandinavian Political Studies, 23, 67–91.CrossRef
Weber, M. (1958 [1919]). Politics as a Vocation. In H. H. Gerth & C. W. Mills (Eds.). From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Wlezien, C., & Soroka, S. N. (2007). The Relationship between Public Opinion and Policy. In R. J. Dalton & H.-D. Klingemann (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press.
Zaller, J. R. (1992). The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRef
Metadata
Title
Representative Elites
Authors
Heinrich Best
Lars Vogel
Copyright Year
2018
Book
The Palgrave Handbook of Political Elites

Print ISBN: 978-1-137-51903-0

Electronic ISBN: 978-1-137-51904-7

Copyright Year: 2018

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51904-7_23