The people's representatives : an examination of the relationship between members of parliament and their constituents

Abstract

The aim of the study is to examine in the light of traditional and modern theories of representation, the relationship between Parliamentarians and Constituents within a comparative perspective. The study leads to an assessment of the elected assembly. The representative assembly, because of what it is as much as what it does, promotes the integration of the political system, mobilizes support for policies, and makes the government worthy of obedience. In the vote of a trustee of the people who choose it, the assembly plays a crucial symbolic function in the mobilization of consent. The authority that an assembly enjoys derives from the claim that it 'represents' the people.