Journal Articles

Rethinking Descriptive Representation : Rendering Women in Legislative Debates

---

This article addresses debates on identity and interest representation by re-conceptualising descriptive representation. The article revisits Pitkin's original work, arguing that descriptive representatives actively ‘stand for’ their constituents by making claims about group members' needs, circumstances and values. The utility of this re-conceptualisation is explored by analysing parliamentarians' speeches supporting and opposing sexual health reforms in Argentina. Female legislators, particularly those elected under quotas, will portray female constituents' reproductive health needs through varied ideological prisms and narrative strategies. Reformulating descriptive representation as ‘claim-making’ usefully sidesteps debates about essentialism, recognises intra-group diversity, and establishes new avenues for empirical analysis based on legislators' public speeches and statements.

---

Availability

No copy data

Detail Information

Series Title

Parliamentary Affairs

Call Number

-

Publisher

Oxfordshire, United Kingdom : Oxford University Press., 2011

Collation

-

Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

00312290

Classification

-

Content Type

-

Media Type

-

Carrier Type

-

Edition

Vol. 64, No. 3, July 2011.pp 448-472

Subject(s)

Rethinking Descriptive Representation
Female legislators
Women in Legislative Debates

Specific Detail Info

-

Statement of Responsibility

-

Other version/related

File Attachment

Comments

---

You must be logged in to post a comment