Have you ever thought about what the role of politicians should be in representing you? Should they be able to make up their own minds, or should they just listen to the people they represent? The different ways that politicians can represent their voters are models of representation.
There are several models of representation used in democratic countries. Each model has its advantages and disadvantages, strong points and blind spots. This article will highlight all of them and leave it to you to decide which model has more merit.
Models of representation meaning
In politics, representation is the process in which elected officials act on behalf of a group of people for a specific period of time. When we talk about representation, we usually mean it within the context of representative democracies. Representative democracies are democracies in which individuals (voters) elect an official to represent and act on behalf of their concerns and interests. This is in contrast to Direct Democracy, in which the individuals have the power to make their own decision instead of deferring to a representative.
So if politicians are representing their voters, how do they do this? This is the meaning of models of representation, they describe different ways in which representatives can and should represent their voters.
Models of Representation describe the role, behaviours, and actions elected officials play in representative democracies.
Fig. 1 - A representative speaking up
Features of models of representation
The key feature of models of representation is the provision of efficiency and a distinct representative. Models of representations in a representative democracy serve to ensure decisions can be made quickly and efficiently, and therefore there is minimal disruption to the operation of society.
If representation occurred through direct democracy, every single decision would have to be made through a referendum. Whilst referendums are occasionally used in representative democracies (such as the referendum for Brexit or Scottish Independence), if every single political decision had to be made via a referendum, this would not only be incredibly difficult to organise, but it would be very inefficient.
The features of models of representation are their provisions of representatives for the public. This representative acts as part of a collective, e.g. the House of Commons, the Welsh Parliament or the Scottish Parliament and can then make decisions on behalf of the electorate.
Models of Representation outline how these representatives will make decisions; decisions may be off the back of the representative's personal knowledge or in response to the needs of those who elected the representative.
Types of models of representation
There are several different types of models of representation, some of the main ones are the delegate model, trustee model, mandate model, and descriptive model.
The delegate model of representation is based on the assumption that those who are elected as representatives should not suggest, implement, or exercise their own personal judgment or preferences. Rather, delegates are expected to refer to the individuals that elected them in order to represent their opinions, views, and concerns without personal interference or input.
Put another way, in a delegate model the elected official is there to be the voice of those who elected them and must act in accordance with their constituents' wishes, regardless of their personal opinion or view on the subject.
Trustee model
The trustee model of representation is in direct contrast to the delegate model. Whilst a delegate is elected to act on behalf of those that elect them without personal interference or judgment, a trustee is someone who is tasked with using their own knowledge, judgment, and expertise to make decisions. Constituents entrust the trustee with the power to make decisions that are for their benefit and view trustees as having the expertise to do so.
Returning to our previous example, in a trustee model of representation, if the constituents wanted to paint all the houses in their picturesque town brown, then the trustee would then be entrusted to weigh the merit of this proposal and has the autonomy to deny the proposal if they felt it would negatively impact the town's tourism potential.
Damage to the town's tourism industry may hurt the economy of the town the trustee has been elected to represent, so the trustee believes it is in the best interest of the townspeople to deny their request.
The trustee model also tends to be associated with conservatism because of its paternalistic nature. For more information on this, you can check out our articles on Conservatism and Paternalism.
The trustee model is also referred to as the Burkean model of representation due to it being supported by Edmund Burke in the House of Commons.
Fig. 3- Portrait of Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797) was a philosopher and Member of Parliament and one of the founders of conservativism. Burke served as an MP for Bristol in 1774 where he objected to the view that MPs should be delegates for the electorate. Burke instead advocated for a trustee model.
This was because Burke was a conscientious objector to the slave trade in Bristol, but the Bristol electorate was infavour of the lucrative slave trade. Burke believed the slave trade was wrong and therefore did not want to act in the wishes of the electorate. Burke believed MP's should not have to sacrifice their 'enlightened conscience' to act as a mouthpiece for the electorate.
There is an element of elitism that can be found in the Burkean model of representation, as there is the assumption that MPs have superior knowledge or an 'enlightened consciousness' and these elites are better positioned to be the ruling group.
Mandate model
The mandate model of representation, also known as party representation, has come about as a result of the rise and dominance of political parties in democracy and leadership. This has meant that instead of constituents voting based on the attributes of the individual that could potentially be representing them, they vote based on their party affiliations.
A mandate refers to an instruction from a superior body; therefore, this model refers to the idea that representatives are to act in line with party policies and must follow party ideals.
For example, within a mandate model, if you support the Liberal Democrats and their ideals, you may vote a liberal democrat as your constituent representative despite not having looked into this individual at all.
Descriptive model
Aside from the three main models of representation, there is also the descriptive or resemblance model. This model is less concerned about how representatives are selected and more about whether they resemble the group they claim to represent.
The descriptive model embraces the idea that in order to act as a representative for a group of people, the representatives must be a part of that group. This is because it is believed that a shared experience is required to identify with issues and act in the best way to solve them. This is an increasing topic of debate within UK politics.
There is the assumption that because many MPs are from middle-class backgrounds, the needs of working-class people in their constituencies cannot be accurately addressed and tackled by these representatives.
Examples of models of representation
The trustee model is an easy model of representation to see evidence of. In fact, most of the decisions made in the
UK Parliament are made by use of the trustee model.
After the 2016 Brexit referendum, which resulted in a slight majority of the country voting to leave the European Union, Prime minister David Cameron resigned and was replaced by Theresa May. Theresa May was charged with the task of pushing through a Brexit Deal; however, many members of her Conservative Party did not cosign this Brexit deal because they personally disagreed with it.
This is an example of the trustee model as these MPs were not following a party mandate, nor were they acting as a mouthpiece for their constituency, they were merely using their own knowledge and expertise to make a decision not to support the Brexit deal.
Whilst the trustee model is popular, certain situations arise that encourage a delegate model of representation, for example, the debate around the High Speed 2 (HS2).
The Conservative Party proposed building a billion-pound railway line that would better connect the north and midland areas of England to London. However, Boris Johnson himself, despite being a member and the leader of the Conservative Party, did not support the HS2. This was because Boris Johnson is, at times a delegate to his constituents, and his constituents did not want HS2 to go ahead.
In the UK, the mandate model of representation is also widespread due to the power of party whips. Often if an MP disagrees with their party, they may still vote for what the party wants, and if their constituency disagrees with the party, the MP may go against its constituents in favour of aligning itself with the party.
The best-case scenario is one in which what the MP thinks, what the party wants and what the constituency wants align, and therefore the trustee, delegate and mandate models all align.
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