ABSTRACT
In studying an empirical political context like Indonesia, the concept of the representative claim is very useful for drawing out how political representatives create meaning about themselves and their world. This chapter outlines the key features of a representative claim, including the importance of separating the maker from the subject of the claim and the audience from the object of the claim. The chapter then turns to the more practical issues of how we can locate and assess the ideational elements that make up a claim and identify patterns in claim-making within a given political system. Here, the role of the media and social media are important. Finally, this chapter returns to the question of ideational power, and how ideas and narratives might inform a political actors reserve of ideational power.
