Spring
1999, GFPT 424
University
of Virginia
Dr.
Charles A. Kromkowski
Representation is a necessary
and sufficient condition for the creation and maintenance of all forms of
constitutional order except, perhaps, pure democracies. What is representation? Under what conditions is representation
possible, desirable or justifiable? Is
representation democratic? majoritarian? elitist? pragmatic? or some other
quality? Our focus upon these questions
will be sharpened by close study of the works of several political
theorists. Texts, however, are not the
only sources for viewing and critically analyzing the structural essences that
frame and give meaning to political life.
Our study, therefore, will be open to alternative representations of
this idea in literature, history, political institutions and behavior,
language, art, science, and contemporary policy debates. In the end, this course will confront a
range of derivative issues, including the necessity and limits of collective
authority, the basis and dynamics of political legitimacy and stability, the
means and opportunities for public participation, the effects of globalization
on spatial forms of representation, and the possibilities and promises of order
and change amidst the conditions of human diversity and liberty.
Requirements: 1)
A full and faithful engagement of assigned reading materials and classroom
discussions; 2) one research paper (8-10pp.); one short paper (3-4pp.); several
in-class presentations.
Texts
Aeschylus,
The Suppliants
Hanna
Pitkin, The Concept of Representation, (1969)
John
Philip Reid, The Concept of Representation in the Age of the American
Revolution, (1989)
John
Stuart Mill, Considerations on Representative Government, ([1861], 1991)
Bernard
Manin, The Principles of Representative Government, (1997)
Eric
Voegelin, The New Science of Politics, (1952)
Reserve
Texts
Frank
Dikotter, "Racial Discourse in China: Continuities and Permutations,"
(1997)
Michael
Weiner, "The Invention of Identity: Race and Nation in Pre-War
Japan," (1997)
Lucia
Nuti, "The Perspective Plan in the Sixteenth Century: The Invention of a
Representational Language," Art Bulletin, (1994)
David
Hume, "On the Independence of Parliament," (1742)
Edmund
Burke, "Speech on Being Elected For Bristol," (1774)
Emmanuel
Joseph Sieyes, "What is the Third Estate?," (1789)
Peter
Monge, "Theoretical and Analytical Issues in Studying Organizat.
Processes," Organization Science, (1990)
Francis
Stickland and Lawrence Reavill, "Understanding the Nature of System
Change: An Interdisciplinary Approach," Systems Research, (1995)
Brown,
"Restrictions of Representation in Colonial Massachusetts, Mississippi
Valley Historical Review, (1953)
Thomas
Gilpin, On the Representation of Minorities of Electors, (1844)
Melissa
Williams, "The Institutions of Fair Representation," Voice, Trust
and Memory: Marginalized Groups and the Failings of Liberal Representation,
(1998)
Charles
Clark, The True Method of Representation in Large Constituencies, (1973)
Hayden
White, "The Fictions of Factual Representation, Tropics of Discourse,
(1985)
Hayden
White, "The Forms of Wildness: An Archaeology of an Idea," Tropics
of Discourse, (1985)
Lee,
"Rorty and Chuang Tzu: Anti-Representationalism, Pluralism and Conversation,"
Journal of Chinese Philosophy, (1996)
Michael
Young, "Representing Problem Representation," Problem
Representation in Foreign Policy Decision Making, (1998)
George
Kateb, "The Moral Distinctiveness of Representative Democracy," Ethics,
(1981)
Rene
de Visme Williamson, "The Fascist Concept of Representation," Journal
of Politics, (1941)
James
A. Morone, "Representation without Elections," Representation and
Responsibility, (1988)
Marie
Swabey, The Theory of the Democratic State, ch. 1, (1937)
Jack
Knight and James Johnson, "Aggregation and Deliberation: On the
Possibility of Democratic Legitimacy," Political Theory, (1994)
Reserve
Texts (cont.)
Lani
Guinier, "No Two Seats: the Elusive Quest for Political Equality," Virginia
Law Review, (1991)
Iris
Young, "Group Representation," Ethnicity and Group Rights,
Kymlicka and Shapiro, eds., (1997)
Jurgen
Habermas, "The European Nation-state--Its Achievements and Its
Limits," Mapping the Nation, (1996)
Phillip
Cerny, "Globalization and the Residual State," Design for
Democratic Stability, (1997)
Susan
Strange, "The Defective State," Daedalus, (1995)
Vivien
Schmidt, "The New World Order, Incorporated: The Rise of Business and the
Decline of the Nation-State, Daedalus, (1995)
Jane
Mansbridge, "Living with Conflict: Representation in the Theory of
Adversary Democracy," Ethics, (1981)
Roberto
Gargarella, "Full Representation, Deliberation, and Impartiality," Deliberative
Democracy, (1998)
Susan
Stokes, "Pathologies of Deliberation," Deliberative Democracy,
(1998)
Jan.
26: Introduction: What are Theories?
What is Representation? What are Theories of Representation?
Feb.
2: Ancient Greece Aeschylus,
The Suppliants
Feb.
9: Ancient Rome Pitken,
pp.1-111
Feb.
16: Middle Ages Pitken,
pp.112ff
Feb.
23: Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau Nuti;
Edney
March
2: Reid
March
9: Article Presentations Monge;
Stickland and Reavill
Brown,
Gilpin, Williams,
Clark,
White, White, Lee, Young
March
16: Spring Break
March
23: Burke;
Sieyes Dikotter;
Weiner
March
30: Mill,
Guinier
April
6: Ira Katnelson Page-Barbour Lecture (location to be announced)
April
13: Manin
April
20: Voegelin
April
27: Kateb;
Williamson; Morone; Swabey; Knight and Johnson; Guinier; Young
Habermas;
Cerny, Strange; Schmidt; Mansbridge; Gargarella; Stokes;
May
4: Presentations and Conclusions
Grading
Participation 40%
1st paper 20%
2nd paper 40%
Attendance:
Required
Office
Hours: After class and by appointment (cak5u@virginia.edu).
Papers
The first paper topic requires
you to find a journal article (in any discipline) that extends or deepens some
dimension of our study of representation.
Write a 3-4 page summary of this article, including what, in particular,
it illuminates regarding representational relationships. This paper is due Monday March 8 and we will
share our findings in class March 9.
The second paper is a research paper on a topic selected after
consultation with me. This paper is due
Monday May 3 and will be presented in class May 4.
Research Paper Topics
This paper is due Monday,
May 3. Please review the list of
paper topics below. Additional paper
topics are possible, but you must discuss them with me prior to March 25. The ideal length of each research paper will
depend upon the topic; for most topics, 10 pages should be sufficient. At a minimum, each paper should identify and
answer a specific research question.
I. Theories of Representation
1) What theories, institutional forms and political attitudes supported
or undermined representational relationships in Ancient Greece and the Roman
Republic/Empire?
2) What theories, institutional forms, and political attitudes supported
or undermined representational relationships in Medieval Europe? in Africa? in the Middle East? in Asia?
3) What was the theory of representation of William of Ockham?
4) What was the theory of representation of Algernon Sidney?
5) How is the idea of representation represented in non-Latin languages?
in terms of personal (political/legal), material, spatial or other forms of
representation? Wherever possible,
trace etymological origins and development of these words.
6) What is the theory and history of the majority rule principle?
7) What are the consequences of scale changes upon the theories and
practices of representative government?
8) What are the similarities and differences between pre-Civil War and
contemporary discussions of the concept of minority representation in the
United States?
9) What is representational theory within the discipline of mathematics?
10) How has the theory of optics changed over time? and what is the relationship between optical
and political theories of representation?
11) What is the theory of representation proposed by Alberti in On
Painting?
1) What is the range of electoral systems and how do different methods
of voting affect political representation?
2) What are the theoretical origins, historical development, and
political consequences of voting rights exclusion for convicted felons in the
United States and/or other countries?
Why exclude? Are there
alternatives?
3) How has the number of federal, state, and local representatives in
the United States changed over time?
4) How do changes in partisan competition affect levels of electoral
participation and competition?
5) How have state legislative tenure/incumbency rates changed over time?
6) When did American state governments pay their state and local representatives?
7) When did American state constitutions provide state executives veto
authority? What percentage of
legislature was necessary for override?
8)
How much electoral participation has there been at state constitutional
ratification moments?