About This Journal

Political Representation publishes original scholarly work that advances the study of political representation as a core democratic process, with particular attention to institutional, relational, and normative dimensions of representation. The journal’s scope is structured around key thematic clusters established in the Handbook of Political Representation and related contemporary scholarship.

Thematic Areas

The journal focuses on the following areas:

1. Theories and Concepts of Political Representation
   Classical and contemporary theories of political representation, including descriptive, substantive, symbolic, and formal representation; representation as a relational and contested process; and representational claims-making.
2. Electoral and Institutional Representation
   Representation through electoral systems, political parties, parliaments, and representative bodies, including institutional design, candidate selection, and mechanisms linking representatives and constituents.
3. Representation of Marginalized and Non-Dominant Groups
   Political representation of immigrants, stateless persons, religious minorities, ethnic minorities, women, and other marginalized or underrepresented populations within democratic and quasi-democratic systems.
4. Citizenship, Non-Citizenship, and Representation
   The relationship between political representation and legal status, including the representational challenges of non-citizens, refugees, and stateless populations, and debates on political inclusion beyond formal citizenship.
5. Accountability, Responsiveness, and Representation Gaps
   Democratic accountability, responsiveness, misrepresentation, and representational deficits, including empirical assessments of how representative institutions address (or fail to address) marginalized constituencies.
6. Comparative and Context-Sensitive Studies of Representation
   Comparative analyses across political systems, with particular attention to under-researched regions and cases from the Global South, emerging democracies, and hybrid regimes.
7. Normative and Democratic Implications of Representation
   Normative debates on political equality, democratic legitimacy, inclusion, and the ethical foundations of representation in plural and diverse societies.