Verso una rappresentanza senza qualità

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to elaborate a basis for a new approach to study the selection of political elites and, at the same time, the transformation of political representation. In the last few years, many studies on political representation have neglected a particular aspect, which is indeed extremely important for a realistic approach to the study of the political system: the quality of representation. There is a substantial number of analysis about the quality of the decision makers’ policies, especially in contemporary democracies, but «quality of representation» is not the same concept. However, «quality» is not to be understood as illustrated by the literature about the qualities of democracies. It is not an index to evaluate the institutional structures, but a regular presence in all political systems. Now, what is the difference (and what are the links) between the “quality of representation” and the ruling class? And also, what is the difference with (political) elites? What are the implications of this approach in the liberal democracy and in the other political regimes? These are some questions for this paper, that is the first step for a more detailed research.