GOVT 83.22 Political Representation in the U.S.

Representation is central to most democratic theories of government, but does the U.S. government represent its citizens? This course introduces students to both classic and contemporary research on this question with a particular emphasis on understanding what constitutes “good” representation. During the \uFB01rst section of the course, we discuss theories of representation and examine the validity of those theories in the context of the political aptitude of citizens and structural dilemmas for representation. The second section of the course will focus on di\uFB00erent empirical approaches to studying representation. The third section focuses on the relationship between inequality (along lines of race/ethnicity, gender, and class) and representation. Throughout the course, we address a number of related questions on democratic theory, the relationship between public opinion and legislative behavior, and how elected o\uFB03cials learn about public opinion.

Instructor

Costa

Degree Requirement Attributes

Dist:SOC

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