Publication Date
3-15-2023
Description
Jane Mansbridge’s (1999) “contingent ‘yes’” amplified a chorus of voices discussing the substantive and symbolic functions of historically marginalized groups’ presence in political office. In her essay, Mansbridge points to contexts of mistrust and uncrystallized interests as domains where presence enhances “adequate communication” and “innovative thinking” for these social groups (628). In this and many other accounts, the linchpin between descriptive and substantive representation for these functions is group members’ shared experiences, alternatively framed as the perspectives informed by those experiences. Shared experiences cannot and do not produce identical effects (they are filtered through many lenses), but they are widely understood to inform and indeed often to authenticate political representation.
Journal
Politics & Gender
Department
Political Science
Publisher Statement
Published in Politics & Gender, 2023
All rights reserved
Link to Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1743923X22000551
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1743923X22000551
Recommended Citation
Xydias, Christina. "Why Theorizing and Measuring Shared Experience in Descriptive Representation Is “A Mess Worth Making”." (2023) .