THE METAMORPHOSES OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT

This paper argues that contemporary developments in democratic politic s mark the emergence of a new type of representative government. Curre nt trends such as the weakening of party identification, the decline o f political platforms or the increasing role of an elite of media expe rts may be regarded as undermining the principle of popular government . The paper demonstrates, however, that representative government was not invented as an indirect form of government by the people, but as a wholly original political system resting on principles different from those which organize democracy. Moreover, a number of institutional a rrangements were established at the origins of representative governme nt which have been virtually unquestioned since. Political representat ion has changed much less than is generally assumed. It is true, on th e other hand, that the constant principles of representative governmen t have had different consequences depending on die circumstances in wh ich they were implemented. Such differences have generated various for ms of political representation. The paper constructs three ideal-types of representative government. It shows that the current situation is best conceived as the rise of a new type of representation.