ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the nature of descriptive representation in the high HIV prevalence, heterogeneous democracy of South Africa. It explains why citizens might have different intrinsic interests with respect to HIV and AIDS that vary along both race and gender lines, motivating an examination of whether such interests are differentially represented by local politicians. The chapter reviews a set of research assistants, including two American graduate students and three American undergraduates, along with two South African graduate students and one undergraduate. Local councillor attitudes and policy preferences with respect to HIV, AIDS, and tuberculosis were measured along three dimensions: risk perception; policy prioritization; and support for specific policy proposals. The chapter describes the collection of data through an original survey of local cancillors, and presents the main findings from various analyses of those data. In the context of AIDS in South Africa, the characteristics of both gender and race clearly merit investigation.
