The Concept of Representation

by Hanna Fenichel Pitkin

Being concerned with representation, this book is about an idea, a concept, a word. It is primarily a conceptual analysis, not a historical study of the way in which representative government has evolved, nor yet an empirical investigation of the behavior of contemporary representatives or the expectations voters have about them. Yet, although the book is about a word, it is not about mere words, not merely about words. For the social philosopher, for the social scientist, words are not "mere"; they are the tools of his trade and a vital part of his subject matter. Since human beings are not merely political animals but also language-using animals, their behavior is shaped by their ideas. What they do and how they do it depends upon how they see themselves and their world, and this in turn depends upon the concepts through which they see. Learning what "representation" means and learning how to represent are intimately connected. But even beyond this, the social theorist sees the world through a network of concepts. Our words define and delimit our world in important ways, and this is particularly true of the world of human and social things. For a zoologist may capture a rare specimen and simply observe it; but who can capture an instance of representation (or of power, or of interest)? Such things, too, can be observed, but the observation always presupposes at least a rudimentary conception of what representation (or power, or interest) is, what counts as representation, where it leaves off and some other phenomenon begins. Questions about what representation is, or is like, are not fully separable from the question of what "representation" means. This book approaches the former questions by way of the latter.

Genres: Politics, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Political Science, Academic

323 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

Reviews

[Emre Ergin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need more books like this. By profession, I am a theorist, that studies positive political theory. Math in voting theory has some uses, but it also have limitations and some faulty shortcuts. When I deal with choosing optimal delegations axiomatically, the model I am building upon is actually already incorporates some assumptions about representation in the expense of the others. I was not aware. I was aware what I was focusing on, how much my assumptions in my mathematical model makes sense. I was not aware what other possible assumptions I was ignoring, and how those assumptions also make (sometimes even more) sense.

[Claudia · Rating 2 out of 5]

No me ha gustado nada. La autora se enrolla muchísimo para explicar un concepto. Además de que pone 500 millones de ejemplos y eso hace que haya muchísima paja y al final ya no sepas qué era de lo que estaba intentando hablar al principio.

[Alexandra Wieczorek]

I read this book first in an undergraduate course on Congress. I have since read it several times over, and it is the book I credit for inspiring my undergraduate thesis.

Pitkin profoundly dismantles our glossing over of what it means to "represent" something. Through her careful analyses of representation in its many forms, she forces the reader to question whether we have ever really been "represented."

I recommend this book to anyone seeking to understand representative systems or anyone interested in politics more generally.

[Kamil · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was the oldest political science book I’ve ever read in full. It provides an excellent overview on different understandings of (political) representation. I appreciate the author’s focus not only on pure theory, but also on language in use. Despite the book’s age, the dilemmas it presents seem relevant. Some repetition and occasionally too much time spent on minor issues, but overall a good read.

[Steven Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hanna Pitkin has done a great service to those who think about representation. This book lays out an important examination of representation in politics. What is it? What are the implications? Pitkin adopts a philosophical perspective to explore matters. This was an important work for me in my graduate school career; I very much appreciated her analysis of the concept. The work is now almost four decades old--but it still holds up pretty well.

[Jeff Swift · Rating 4 out of 5]

We need representation precisely where we are not content to leave matters to the expert; we can have substantive representation only where interest is involved, that is, where decisions are not merely arbitrary choice. (212)

It seems to me that we show a government to be representative not by demonstrating its control over its subjects but just the reverse, by demonstrating that its subjects have control over what it does (232)

[Alessandro Merighi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Preziosa analisi del concetto di rappresentanza che prende le mosse da una minuziosa ricerca degli usi del termine e, attraverso di essa, enuclea le principali problematiche insite nel concetto stesso. Descrivendo a fondo le differenti prospettive o "idee" di rappresentanza (politica e non!) conseguenti all'assunzione di una o di un'altra accezione del termine e spesso in contrasto tra di loro, giunge a un mirabile tentativo di riconciliazione che mantenga le migliori intuizioni di ciascuna. Assolutamente consigliato in quanto, nel laborioso ma lineare percorso semantico e ideologico che porta alla conclusione, si ha modo di rivedere, integrare e completare la propria idea di rappresentanza, che - nel mio caso - era molto meno nitida prima di questa lettura; e con essa, la propria idea di cosa sia - o cosa debba essere - il sistema rappresentativo, nella sua essenza e nella sua pratica.

[Marc Sabatier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in 1967, this book holds up very well. Representation is a core concept in political science, but poorly defined. Pitkin is a keen reader of Burke, Mill and Bentham, and synthesizes it to a worthwhile discussion and definition on representation.

This is political theory, but I felt that the underlying cases being discussed were anglo-saxon, and left wondering whether political representation means different things across time and space. That is the comparativist inch. But it is an absolutely thorough and welcoming read, which leaves one enlightened.

[Nicole Geluk-Le · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a foundation of representative democracy studies for a reason - albeit in the standard academic language of the time, i.e. dense A.F.

If you're even touching on how representation works, delegate and trustee models, this is the grounding you're looking for.

[Frizzo · Rating 3 out of 5]

schön geschrieben, aber bleibt doch etwas im Begrifflichen stecken

[Leonardo]

Ernest Barker, al analizar el numeroso grupo de seguidores de los dictadores fascistas, en relación con la noción de representación afirma lo siguiente: "El hecho fundamental es que este seguimiento representa o refleja la voluntad del líder, y no que el líder represente o refleje la voluntad de los seguidores. Sí hay representación, es representación inversa, procediendo hacia abajo desde el líder. El partido representa al líder: el pueblo, en tanto que toma su orientación del partido, representa y refleja la orientación del líder". Barker plantea la representación como dominada por una clara alternativa: o bien el líder representa la voluntad de sus seguidores, o bien los seguidores representan la voluntad del líder. Debemos cuestionar la alternativa de Barker en dos puntos: (1) tenemos motivos para dudar de que la alternativa sea tan exclusiva como Barker piensa que es; (2) también tenemos motivos para dudar de que la segunda posibilidad -los seguidores representando la voluntad del líder- se limite tan sólo a las dictaduras fascistas.

(citando a Pitkin) La razón populista Pág. 199

[Colm Gillis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pitkin did a masterful job of exploring the subject of representation. She did so by paying attention to how the word is used in contemporary usage and then went back to how it is used in a political context. I found her discussion of Edmund Burke particularly useful.

[Craig Bolton]

The Concept of Representation by Hanna F. Pitkin (1972)

[Pavol Hardos · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic in every sense of the word, still relevant today as it was 40 years ago. A must for every student of political representation.

[Jenneke Aartsen]

Tip from Imrat Verhoeven, public policy, CRG WG

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superlative.

[Luke Echo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rather good summary of the ways ideas about "representation" in politics are ultimately tied up with ideological notions of "interests" and even reason and rationality itself.