Contested Meanings of Representation
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Contested Meanings of Representation Johannes Pollak Institute for European Integration Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Prinz Eugen Str. 8-10/2, Vienna A-1040, Austria. E-mail: [email protected]
The article deals with the question how the process of constitutionalization can be organized and argues that it needs to be structured via representative politics. By looking into the history of the concept of representation, it becomes clear that one of the pillars of democracy is notoriously underspecified and theoretically overloaded. Who represents what by which means is a question, which was answered in a historically contingent way. An analysis of the different answers is necessary in order to arrive at an analytical grid to study the representative quality of polities comprising various functions as well as modes of representation. Finally, the European Union’s democratic quality is analysed and described to be heavily affected by colliding modes of representation. Comparative European Politics (2007) 5, 87–103. doi:10.1057/palgrave.cep.6110104 Keywords: representation; political theory; democracy; European Union
Introduction Constitutions are a crystallization of societal norms. As such, they provide information on the political teloi of a community and act as a normative roadmap for the achievement of common objectives (Grimm, 2004). Without such a telos, political rule becomes futile (Hennis, 1976). Since modern societies are volatile, multicultural and characterized by value pluralism, the point of origin of constitutions is a set of potentially diverging norms. Hence, constitutions are necessarily flexible and sometimes vague frames of reference because within ‘constitutional moments’ (Ackerman, 1991, 1999, 2000), the values and norms of different parts of a society are abducted from their socio-cultural context of origin. Thus, a transfer of context forms the first step in formulating a constitution; actually, this transformation is taking place continuously. They are transformed into abstract and general constitutional norms but ideally, this is done in a way that all parts still recognize ‘their’ values. In ‘normal phases’ (Kuhn, 1962), we do not pay too much attention to constitutional development as it often moves at a glacial pace and the text as such is absconded from the sphere of ‘essentially contested concepts’
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(Gallie, 1956). In times of crises, this process gains momentum. Labour pains are a necessary by-product since the reformulation always comprises a loss. In order for that loss not to acquire centrifugal force leading to the dissolution of a polity, the mechanisms of constitutionalization processes need to be based on representative politics. Thus, representation becomes a core organizing principle. Within the nation-state, securing the precarious balance between centripetal and centrifugal forces is a matter of constant effort including institutional adaptation and contestation. At the supranational level, this balance is st
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