ABSTRACT
"Representation" is thought to be a political "good" for a variety of reasons. Representation based upon at least three different criteria. First, a person can represent others by virtue of a contract between them, as in the case of an agent or delegate who is charged with looking after the specified interests of those they represent. Second, a person may also be a representative because of his personal attributes, being typical of the electors through a sharing in such characteristics as religion, social status, education, or communal membership. Third, representation may take on a procedural definition, referring simply to the means by which representatives are chosen, that is, their nomination and election. Clearly, then, the purpose of elections is to select leadership, not to maximize democracy." In the popular and culturally attractive Radical doctrine of Alain, democracy becomes nothing more than the control of the governors by the governed—a system of surveillance rather than one of leadership and responsiveness.
