How Representative is Our Government—And How Should it Be? | Politics with Paul #87

What makes a government representative of the people - and is that what we see in America? Everybody wants a government that not only works for them but also reflects its constituents. There is also a lot of agreement that government falls short of doing so. Yet how people envision that representativeness isn't always the same, and there are a lot of obstacles that hinder government's ability to be representative. Today's episode explores this concept of representation in government. How often should representatives do exactly what the voters want? What kinds of representativeness do different people find important? What are some roadblocks to representation that we need to address. Tune in for the answers to these questions and more.

Speakers

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Paul Rader

Host • 95%

Paul Rader

Host • 5%

Chapters

0:00	Intro to Representativeness, Practical and Philosophical Considerations
1:52	Do Most Americans Feel Their Governments are Representative?
5:41	The 4 Models of Government Representation
6:27	The Delegate vs. Trustee Models of Representation
11:22	The Politico Model of Representation
14:13	The Partisan Model of Representation
16:34	Some Different Kinds of Representativeness
17:08	Is Government Partisanly Representative of the Public?
22:05	Is Government Ideologically Representative of the Public?
24:42	Is Government Racially Representative of the Public?
25:51	Is Government Representative in Terms of Gender?
27:36	Challenges to Representativeness in Government
28:04	Challenge #1: Low Voter Turnout
32:59	Challenge #2: Ballot Access Laws
36:19	Challenge #3: Need for "Purity" in the Major Parties
38:39	Challenge #4: Gerrymandering
43:01	Challenge #5: Large Populations in Legislative Districts
46:27	The Future of Representativeness in Government
55:30	Closing and Links

Transcript

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