ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests how and why one might begin to reformulate representation theory and to identify the critical questions. Much of the disillusionment and dissatisfaction with modern representative government grows out of a fascination with the policy decisions of representative bodies which, in turn, reflects what may be called a "policy-demand-input" conception of government in general and the representative processes in particular. In most American contexts, the failure of party and legislative personnel to provide appropriate policy cues makes the applicability of the responsible-party model dubious to begin with, no matter what voters might be doing. It can hardly be said, then, that the responsible-party model solves any of the theoretical problems encountered in the elementary atomistic model of representative democracy. Most report without surprise the lack of connection between any sort of policy-demand input from the citizenry and the policy-making behavior of representatives.
