Reconciling representation and accountability
- An egalitarian approach to the fair representation of voters specifies three main institutional requirements: proportional representation, legislative majority rule and a parliamentary system of government. This approach faces two challenges: the under-determination of the resulting democratic process and the idea of a trade-off between equal voter representation and government accountability. Linking conceptual with comparative analysis, the article argues that we can distinguish three ideal-typical varieties of the egalitarian vision of democracy, based on the stages at which majorities are formed. These varieties do not put different relative normative weight onto equality and accountability, but have different conceptions of both values and their reconciliation. The view that accountability is necessarily linked to clarity of responsibility', widespread in the comparative literature, is questioned - as is the idea of a general trade-off between representation and accountability. Depending on the vision of democracy, the two valuesAn egalitarian approach to the fair representation of voters specifies three main institutional requirements: proportional representation, legislative majority rule and a parliamentary system of government. This approach faces two challenges: the under-determination of the resulting democratic process and the idea of a trade-off between equal voter representation and government accountability. Linking conceptual with comparative analysis, the article argues that we can distinguish three ideal-typical varieties of the egalitarian vision of democracy, based on the stages at which majorities are formed. These varieties do not put different relative normative weight onto equality and accountability, but have different conceptions of both values and their reconciliation. The view that accountability is necessarily linked to clarity of responsibility', widespread in the comparative literature, is questioned - as is the idea of a general trade-off between representation and accountability. Depending on the vision of democracy, the two values need not be in conflict.…
Author details: | Steffen GanghofORCiDGND |
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-413456 |
Title of parent work (English): | Government and Opposition |
Subtitle (English): | three visions of democracy compared |
Publication series (Volume number): | Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Reihe (96) |
Publication type: | Postprint |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2018/07/23 |
Publication year: | 2016 |
Publishing institution: | Universität Potsdam |
Release date: | 2018/07/23 |
Tag: | accountability; political equality; visions of democracy |
Number of pages: | 25 |
Source: | Government and Opposition Vol. 51, No. 2 (2016); DOI: 10.1017/gov.2015.15 |
Organizational units: | Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät |
Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Sozialwissenschaften | |
DDC classification: | 3 Sozialwissenschaften / 32 Politikwissenschaft / 320 Politikwissenschaft |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Publishing method: | Open Access |
Grantor: | Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
License (German): | Keine öffentliche Lizenz: Unter Urheberrechtsschutz |