Representation and Community in Western Democracies [Hardcover]

This book of critical essays explores new thinking and new evidence on the role of locally-elected representatives in Western democracies. The book is topical in the light of the intense political and popular interest in the problems of making local government representative and responsive. The contributors, drawn from the UK, US, France, Denmark and Norway, deal with two principal themes: political recruitment and representativeness; and the processes of political representation, and highlight the dilemmas of open and accessible local government.Notes on the Contributors The Changing Context of Representation; N.Rao Representing Communities: Who and What?; M.Goldsmith Representativeness and Local Politics in Denmark; U.Kjaer Representation Under Strain: The British Experience; N.Rao Representation and Deliberative Politics; J.Aars & A.Offerdal Communities, Parties and Crisis of Representation; C.Copus Community Politics: Ideals, Myths and Realities; J.Meadowcroft Representation and Governance: Redefining Roles for Large Council-Manager Cities in the United States; J.H.Svara Representational Roles and Institutionalism: The Case of the French Regions; O.Nay Opportunities, Constraints and 'the Right to Represent'; K.Young IndexJACOB AARS Researcher at SEFOS, University of Bergen, NorwayCOLIN COPUS Senior Lecturer in Public Policy, University of Wolverhampton Business SchoolMIKE GOLDSMITH Professor of Government and Politics and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of SalfordULRIK KJAER Ph.D. ScholarJOHN MEADOWCROFT University of LondonOLIVIER NAY Senior Lecturer, Department of Politics, Bordeaux UniversityAUDUN OFFERDAL Professor, Department of Administration and Organisational Theory, University of BergenJAMES H. SVARA Head of Department of Political Science and Public Administration, North Carolina State UniversityKEN YOUNG Professor of Politics, Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London