Democracy within, justice without: The duties of informal political representatives¹

Abstract

Informal political representation can be a political lifeline, particularly for oppressed and marginalized groups.Such representation can give these groups some say, however mediate, partial, and imperfect, in how things go for them. Coeval with the political goods such representation offers these groups are its particular dangers to them. Mindful of these dangers, skeptics challenge the practice for being, inter alia, unaccountable, unauthorized, inegalitarian, and oppressive. These challenges provide strong pro tanto reasons to think the practice morally impermissible. This paper considers the question: On what conditions is the informal political representation of oppressed and marginalized groups permissible? By responding to skeptics' challenges, I develop a systematic account of moral constraints that, if adopted, would make such representation permissible. The account that emerges shows that informal political representatives (IPRs) must aim to fulfill two sets of sometimes conflicting duties to the represented: democracy within duties, which concern how the representative treats and relates to the represented, and justice without duties, which concern how the representative's actions advance the aims of the representation.

Research Methods in Deliberative Democracy

“…First, who is obliged to seek legitimacy and persuade -the citizens selected for the forum who have agreed to serve, the organizers of the forum, or both? The philosopher Wendy Salkin (2021aSalkin ( , 2021b has plumbed the obligations of citizens who become informal representatives of other citizens both when they are 'witting and unwitting' and when they are 'willing and unwilling' . The randomly chosen participants in citizen deliberative forums occupy a half-way role between informal and formal representatives.…”

Political etiquette

“…13 Hancock speaks here as an informal representative of the Romani community, though he knows as well as anyone that Romanies are heterogeneous in their political views (Hancock, 2002). For a helpful discussion of the complexities of informal political representation, see Salkin (2021). 14 Etymologists have not established an etymological connection between gyp and gypsy (Hoad 2003).…”

Diversifying science: comparing the benefits of citizen science with the benefits of bringing more women into science

“…One of the main stakeholder groups participating, for example, was the Regional Citizens Advisory Council, an organization whose explicit mission was to represent the interests of citizens impacted by oil transport in the region. As several political theorists have noted, cases of such "informal" political representation by unelected bodies are common, and can play an important and necessary role in democratic deliberation (Salkin, 2021).…”