Introduction: political representation in modern liberal and democratic regimes: from its origins to its current strains and major challenges

This introduction presents an overview of the general theme of political representation, especially in contemporary liberal democratic regimes, which is the major focus of the present Encyclopedia. It presents definitions of political representation, its historical anchors and its relevance for the current functioning of contemporary democracies. Different visions of political representation in modern democracies are also explored (delegate vs. trustee; substantive, acting for, vs. descriptive, standing for; ex ante vs. ex post, etc.). It also explains the importance of at least a certain level of congruence between citizens and representatives in terms of ideological and policy preferences so that public policies reflect the will of the majority of the people, a fundamental principle of a liberal democratic regime. Furthermore, the importance of the rules of the game, namely electoral systems and political parties, for the current functioning of modern political representation is analysed. Additionally, the major challenges for democratic political representation in a world of interdependence are taken into consideration: namely, globalisation, Europeanisation, the growth of non-majoritarian institutions and multi-level governance. Finally, this introduction provides an overview and a rationale for the organisation of the current volume; namely, the reasons for dividing the Encyclopedia into six parts and the rationale for the contents within each of the six parts.