Claims of Misrepresentation: A Comparison of Germany and Brazil
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2019 |
Outros Autores: | |
Tipo de documento: | Artigo |
Idioma: | eng |
Título da fonte: | Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
Texto Completo: | https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v7i3.2143 |
Resumo: | The system of representative democracy is under considerable strain. Its institutions are struggling to maintain legitimacy, and its elected representatives are failing to keep their monopoly on (formal) political representation. An emerging multitude of (new) claim makers contests the authority of elected representatives as well as the functioning of the existing system of representative democracy by alleging misrepresentation. In this article, we identify a significant shortcoming in Saward’s claims-making approach; specifically, we argue that it offers little direction in addressing misrepresentation. We distinguish between claims of representation and claims of misrepresentation, and show how the latter can fulfill one, two or all three of the following functions: (1) they appeal to an enemy/antagonist (strategy), (2) identify causes of misrepresentation related to policies, politics, and polity (persuasion), and (3) claim to create a new linkage to “the people”, sometimes present themselves as new representatives (reframing). To test this proposed framework, we compare claims of misrepresentation in Brazil made by civil society groups (before and during the presidential impeachment between 2014 and 2016) and in Germany (focusing on the parliamentarians of the Alternative for Germany during the first six months of mandate). Our results suggest that claims of misrepresentation are not intrinsically democratic or undemocratic, but are instead ambiguous, have different manifestations and disparate impacts on the representative system. Our article contributes to the conceptual development of the claims approach and to further understanding several critical and current challenges to representative democracy. |
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Claims of Misrepresentation: A Comparison of Germany and BrazilBrazil; democracy; Germany; misrepresentation; populism; representation; representative claimsThe system of representative democracy is under considerable strain. Its institutions are struggling to maintain legitimacy, and its elected representatives are failing to keep their monopoly on (formal) political representation. An emerging multitude of (new) claim makers contests the authority of elected representatives as well as the functioning of the existing system of representative democracy by alleging misrepresentation. In this article, we identify a significant shortcoming in Saward’s claims-making approach; specifically, we argue that it offers little direction in addressing misrepresentation. We distinguish between claims of representation and claims of misrepresentation, and show how the latter can fulfill one, two or all three of the following functions: (1) they appeal to an enemy/antagonist (strategy), (2) identify causes of misrepresentation related to policies, politics, and polity (persuasion), and (3) claim to create a new linkage to “the people”, sometimes present themselves as new representatives (reframing). To test this proposed framework, we compare claims of misrepresentation in Brazil made by civil society groups (before and during the presidential impeachment between 2014 and 2016) and in Germany (focusing on the parliamentarians of the Alternative for Germany during the first six months of mandate). Our results suggest that claims of misrepresentation are not intrinsically democratic or undemocratic, but are instead ambiguous, have different manifestations and disparate impacts on the representative system. Our article contributes to the conceptual development of the claims approach and to further understanding several critical and current challenges to representative democracy.Cogitatio2019-09-24info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v7i3.2143oai:ojs.cogitatiopress.com:article/2143Politics and Governance; Vol 7, No 3 (2019): Rethinking Representation: Representative Claims in Global Perspective; 152-1642183-2463reponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAPenghttps://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/2143https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v7i3.2143https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/2143/2143Copyright (c) 2019 Petra Guasti, Debora Rezende de Almeidahttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessGuasti, PetraAlmeida, Debora Rezende de2022-12-22T15:16:53Zoai:ojs.cogitatiopress.com:article/2143Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-19T16:22:31.800222Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Claims of Misrepresentation: A Comparison of Germany and Brazil |
title |
Claims of Misrepresentation: A Comparison of Germany and Brazil |
spellingShingle |
Claims of Misrepresentation: A Comparison of Germany and Brazil Guasti, Petra Brazil; democracy; Germany; misrepresentation; populism; representation; representative claims |
title_short |
Claims of Misrepresentation: A Comparison of Germany and Brazil |
title_full |
Claims of Misrepresentation: A Comparison of Germany and Brazil |
title_fullStr |
Claims of Misrepresentation: A Comparison of Germany and Brazil |
title_full_unstemmed |
Claims of Misrepresentation: A Comparison of Germany and Brazil |
title_sort |
Claims of Misrepresentation: A Comparison of Germany and Brazil |
author |
Guasti, Petra |
author_facet |
Guasti, Petra Almeida, Debora Rezende de |
author_role |
author |
author2 |
Almeida, Debora Rezende de |
author2_role |
author |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Guasti, Petra Almeida, Debora Rezende de |
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv |
Brazil; democracy; Germany; misrepresentation; populism; representation; representative claims |
topic |
Brazil; democracy; Germany; misrepresentation; populism; representation; representative claims |
description |
The system of representative democracy is under considerable strain. Its institutions are struggling to maintain legitimacy, and its elected representatives are failing to keep their monopoly on (formal) political representation. An emerging multitude of (new) claim makers contests the authority of elected representatives as well as the functioning of the existing system of representative democracy by alleging misrepresentation. In this article, we identify a significant shortcoming in Saward’s claims-making approach; specifically, we argue that it offers little direction in addressing misrepresentation. We distinguish between claims of representation and claims of misrepresentation, and show how the latter can fulfill one, two or all three of the following functions: (1) they appeal to an enemy/antagonist (strategy), (2) identify causes of misrepresentation related to policies, politics, and polity (persuasion), and (3) claim to create a new linkage to “the people”, sometimes present themselves as new representatives (reframing). To test this proposed framework, we compare claims of misrepresentation in Brazil made by civil society groups (before and during the presidential impeachment between 2014 and 2016) and in Germany (focusing on the parliamentarians of the Alternative for Germany during the first six months of mandate). Our results suggest that claims of misrepresentation are not intrinsically democratic or undemocratic, but are instead ambiguous, have different manifestations and disparate impacts on the representative system. Our article contributes to the conceptual development of the claims approach and to further understanding several critical and current challenges to representative democracy. |
publishDate |
2019 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2019-09-24 |
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
format |
article |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv |
https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v7i3.2143 oai:ojs.cogitatiopress.com:article/2143 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v7i3.2143 |
identifier_str_mv |
oai:ojs.cogitatiopress.com:article/2143 |
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/2143 https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v7i3.2143 https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/2143/2143 |
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv |
Copyright (c) 2019 Petra Guasti, Debora Rezende de Almeida http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
rights_invalid_str_mv |
Copyright (c) 2019 Petra Guasti, Debora Rezende de Almeida http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
eu_rights_str_mv |
openAccess |
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv |
application/pdf |
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Cogitatio |
publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Cogitatio |
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv |
Politics and Governance; Vol 7, No 3 (2019): Rethinking Representation: Representative Claims in Global Perspective; 152-164 2183-2463 reponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação instacron:RCAAP |
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Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
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RCAAP |
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RCAAP |
reponame_str |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
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Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
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Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
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