ABSTRACT
The last century saw the publication of quite impressive source materials and monographs dealing with representative institutions in particular countries and periods of time. The grand theory formulated by Otto Hintze around 1930 has been accepted, as far as it concerned his identification of the typically European conditions for their emergence, while his attempt to formulate a typology based on bi- or tri-cameral structures has been rejected. From the 1950s, theoretical considerations became scarce, and general overviews offered merely descriptive juxtapositions of individual developments. In recent decades, innovative interpretations have become possible, thanks to research methods such as the prosopography of delegates, quantification of activities, and a deeper understanding of the political implications of particular types of taxation. More recently, attention was drawn to the symbolic function of representation. These developments have led to a renewed interest in the fundamental questions about the conditions for the emergence and the lasting impact of representation, as well as its marginalisation in a number of countries in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
