Introduction: Representation as a Case for Upgrade

Abstract

The question of a democratic deficit in Mauritius and reflections on how it might be addressed were the prompt for undertaking this book. In Mauritius, the seeming regularity of corruption scandals suggests that there is a growing democratic deficit (Transparency Mauritius in Corruption Perception Index 2013. Transparency Mauritius, Port Louis, Mauritius, 2013; Corruption Perception Index 2015. Transparency Mauritius Organisation, Port Louis, Mauritius, 2015, Corruption Perception Index 2016. Transparency Mauritius Organisation, Port Louis, Mauritius, 2017). This is not uncommon in many contemporary democracies even Australia, where concerns about a democratic deficit have been noted for some time (Zweifel in Democratic Deficit? Institutions and Regulation in the European Union, Switzerland, and the United States. Lexington Books, Lanham, MD, 2002; White and Nevitte in Imperfect Democracies the Democratic Deficit in Canada and the United States. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver and Toronto, 2012; Ward in European Union Democratic Deficit and the Public Sphere. IOS Press, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2002; Norris in Euro J Polit Res 32:273–282, 1997; Democratic Deficit: Critical Citizens Revisited. Cambridge University Press, New York, 2011; Imperfect Democracies: The Democratic Deficit in Canada and the United States. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver and Toronto 2012; Beetham in Imperfect Democracies the Democratic Deficit in Canada and the United States. UBC Press, Vancouver and Toronto, 2012). For present purposes, the idea of a democratic deficit can be understood as a perceived gap between what democratic institutions purport to be about and what they actually do.