Theory of representation Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Theory of type - Case Study ExampleThe most symbolic event of this political transformation is the recent election of Barack Obama to the office of President. The rest of this essay will critically assess Anne Phillips government of presence theory of representation, by contrasting it to pick theories and interpretations forwarded by other scholars. In the introduction to her book The Politics of Presence, Anne Phillips states thatmost voters recognize too little about the candidates to make their talents or virtues the basis for political choice. Most voters, indeed, would query whether these should be a central concern. We might all wish to be represented by people we meet as wiser or more able than ourselves, but, faced with a choice between someone more competent and someone whose views we can share, we usually feel safer in giving our support to the latter. The political companionship provides us with the necessary shorthand for making our political choice we look at the label or else than the person, and hope we will not be let down. (Phillips, 1998, p.15)The above passage captures the essential dilemma confronting a voter, who is often unsure of which candidate truly represents his/her interests, opinions and beliefs and in turn will help create unified policy measures. Typically, there are no concrete ways in which one can obtain if a candidate really represents the aspirations of the voter. To this extent the popular system is said to operate on the politics of ideas. Anne Phillips ensample of representation based on politics of presence aims to provide an alternative framework for analyzing representation. At the centre of political representation based on presence is the demand for equality based on gender, race, class and other parameters of a particular democratic society. The well-entrenched politics of ideas, which is the dominant model in the ordinal century, suggests a broadly secular understanding of politics as a matter of judgem ent and debate, and expects political loyalties to develop around policies rather than people (Phillips, 1998, p.16). But either due to the apparent failure of this model of representation or due to the compulsions of modern times, political scientists and public intellectuals are looking at alternative models of representation, based on avenues of typical or mirror or random representation, which they have stick outn as a better approximation to the honest-to-goodness dream of being ruler and ruled in turn, or as a more fitting way of ensuring that all interests are adequately referenceed (Phillips, 1998, p.16). Although Anne Phillips does not endorse these radical alternatives to traditional models of democratic representation, the theory based on politics of presence is an effort toward the broader search for alternatives. The politics of presence theory of representation tries to address the sense of political exclusion felt by communities defined by their race, gender or et hnicity. more(prenominal) specifically, the politics of presence demands for the equal representation of women with men demands for a more even-handed balance between the dissimilar ethnic groups that make up each society demands for the political inclusion of groups that have come to see themselves as marginalized or