210116 SE M7: Staatstätigkeit, Policy- und Governanceanalysen (2023W)

Representation of the preferences of citizens lies at the heart of politics. It comes as no surprise that our understanding of democracy usually incorporates the concept of representative democracy. Here, citizens can influence politics by voting for political representatives or political parties. Through regular elections, citizens are able to reward or punish their representatives for keeping or breaking their promises. In this seminar, we will take a closer look at different forms of representation. We will start with a definition of representation and other important concepts in this strand of research. We will continue by distinguishing between different types of representation (f.e. descriptive and substantive representation). Here, we will also focus on analysing the representation of different constituents such as women or the LGBTQ+ community as well as potential consequences of (non-)representation. The second part of this seminar is devoted to the study of actual representation. If parties are able to fulfil the pledges they made during the electoral campaign, they are able to represent the preferences of their voters. But what influences pledge fulfilment? And how can we explain the puzzling finding that voters think that parties do not keep their promises even though research has found that pledge fulfilment is quite high? The course provides the students with the knowledge of the relevant theories of political representation and introduces methodological challenges in the field. The aim of the course is to support the students to develop and answer a research question of their own in the area of political representation. Please note: Knowledge of and interest in statistical analysis is helpful for students taking part in this course.