The seminar focuses on how political representation is structured, practiced, and contested in contemporary political systems. It introduces students to the institutional foundations of representation, including electoral systems, systems of government, party competition, and legislative rules, and explores how these determine who is represented and whose voices are heard. Beyond institutional arrangements, the course analyses political processes and behaviour such as elections, parliamentary decision-making, and political careers. A core theme of the seminar is inequality in representation, focusing on women, minorities, migrants, young people, and other underrepresented groups, and engaging with debates on descriptive and substantive representation. Given robust comparative examples from different regions, the seminar will prepare students with conceptual and empirical tools to critically assess representation in democratic and hybrid political systems.
- Dozent/in: Adeola Ogundotun