representative government

   A political system is representative if it is one in which representatives of the people share, to a significant degree, in the making of decisions. For this to apply there must be a good number of representatives meeting in some kind of free assembly. They are chosen to protect and advance the interests of the individuals on whose behalf they are acting and must be freely elected. In Western democracies, it is the manner of choice – free elections – which is seen as the key component of representative government.

   But what is a representative of the people? The term is commonly used in different ways: a person whose task it is to protect and advance the interests of the group being represented; a person or assembly who or which has been freely elected; an elected body which mirrors or reflects the characteristics of the community as a whole. In the West, the main meaning of representation is concerned with election. Representation by election is the most important form of representation, with people choosing an assembly to reflect their wishes. Electoral reformers will, however, point out that the assembly chosen is not truly representative, for governments have been chosen by less than half of the voters in every election postwar and might therefore be said to have lacked legitimacy. This is particularly true of recent experience: Labour won in 2005 on the basis of a low level of popular support (35.2 per cent of those who voted, little over 20 per cent of the whole electorate), a ‘success’ achieved on a low turnout. Also, Britain an assembly in which minority parties have traditionally been seriously under-represented.