In politics, representation describes how residents of a country are empowered in the government. Representation usually refers to representative democracies, where elected representatives speak for their constituents in the legislature. Generally, only citizens are granted representation in the government in the form of voting rights, however some democracies have extended this right further. This is a list of politics articles available for every country. ... Jump to: navigation, search A political campaign is an organized effort to influence the decision making process within a group. ... Jump to: navigation, search Political science is a social science discipline that deals with the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior. ... Jump to: navigation, search Political philosophy is the study of the fundamental questions about the state, government, politics, property, law and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why they are needed, what makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why... Jump to: navigation, search An ideology is a collection of ideas. ... Jump to: navigation, search Representative democracy comprises a form of democracy and theory of civics wherein voters choose (in free, secret, multi-party elections) representatives to act in their interests, but not as their proxies—i. ... The Elections and Parties Series Democracy Representative democracy History of democracy Referenda Liberal democracy Representation Voting Voting systems Ideology Elections Elections by country Elections by calendar Politics Politics by country Political campaigns Political science Political philosophy Related topics Political parties Parties by country Parties by name Parties by ideology Ideologies... A referendum (plural: referendums or referenda) or plebiscite is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. ... Jump to: navigation, search Liberal democracy is a form of representative democracy where the ability of elected representatives to exercise decision-making power is subject to the rule of law and moderated by a constitution which emphasizes the protection of the rights and freedoms of individuals and minorities (also called... Jump to: navigation, search Voting is a method of decision making wherein a group such as a meeting or an electorate attempts to gauge its opinion—usually as a final step following discussions or debates. ... Jump to: navigation, search A voting system is a process that allows a group of people to express their tolerances or preferences about a number of options, and then selects an option, or even multiple options, in a way that satisfies many of the voters. ... Jump to: navigation, search An election is a decision making process whereby people vote for preferred political candidates or parties to act as representatives in government. ... Elections by country gives information on elections. ... Jump to: navigation, search This electoral calendar lists the national/federal direct elections in the countries listed in the list of countries. ... Jump to: navigation, search A political party is a political organization that subscribes to a certain ideology and seeks to attain political power within a government. ... Jump to: navigation, search This is a list of political parties around the world. ... Jump to: navigation, search Welcome to the index of political parties, an alphabetical list of (mainly) present-day political parties listed in the list of political parties. ... The Elections and Parties Series Democracy Representative democracy History of democracy Referenda Liberal democracy Representation Voting Voting systems Ideology Elections Elections by country Elections by calendar Electoral systems Politics Politics by country Political campaigns Political science Political philosophy Related topics Political parties Parties by country Parties by name Parties by... The Elections and Parties Series Democracy Representative democracy History of democracy Referenda Liberal democracy Representation Voting Voting systems Ideology Elections Elections by country Elections by calender Electoral systems Politics Politics by country Political campaigns Political science Political philosophy Related topics Political parties Parties by country Parties by name Parties by... Look up Politics on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Politics (disambiguation) Democracy History of democracy List of democracy and elections-related topics List of years in politics List of politics by country articles Political corruption Political economy Political movement Political parties of the world Political party Political psychology Political sociology Political... Jump to: navigation, search Representative democracy comprises a form of democracy and theory of civics wherein voters choose (in free, secret, multi-party elections) representatives to act in their interests, but not as their proxies—i. ... A constituent is someone who can or does appoint or elect (and often by implication can also remove or recall) another as her agent or representative. ... Chamber of the Estates-General, the Dutch legislature. ... The word citizen may refer to: A person with a citizenship Citizen Watch Co. ...

Descriptive representation

Descriptive representation, sometimes called passive representation or symbolic representation, is the idea that candidates in democratic elections should be elected to represent ethnic and gender constituencies, as well as other minority interest groups, rather than the population at large. According to this idea, an elected body should resemble a representative sample of the voters they are meant to represent concerning outward characteristics - a constituency of 50% women and 20% blacks, for example, should have 50% female and 20% black legislators. Jump to: navigation, search Democracy is a form of government in which policy is decided by the preference of the majority in a decision-making process, usually elections or referenda, open to all or most citizens. ... An ethnic group is a group of people who identify with one another, or are so identified by others, on the basis of a boundary that distinguishes them from other groups. ... Jump to: navigation, search In a variety of different contexts, gender refers to the masculinity or femininity of words, persons, organisms, or characteristics. ... The definition of a minority group can vary, depending on specific context, but generally refers to either a sub-group that does not form either a majority or a plurality of the total population, or a group that, while not necessarily a numerical minority, is disadvantaged or otherwise has less... An advocacy group, interest group or lobbying group is a group, however loosely or tightly organized, doing advocacy: those determined to encourage or prevent changes in public policy without trying to be elected. ... Image of a woman on the Pioneer plaque sent to outer space. ...

Generally, voting systems that obtain proportional representation also tend to achieve descriptive representation as well, however this can only be guaranteed to the extent that voting patterns in a system of proportional representation also reflect descriptive characteristics of the voters. If a particular trait is not a concern for voters or prospective candidates (for instance, eye color), then an elected body will resemble a random sampling of the voters instead. Voters at the voting booths in the US in 1945 Voting systems are methods (algorithms) for groups of people to select one or more options from many, taking into account the individual preferences of the group members. ... Jump to: navigation, search Proportional representation (PR) is any election system which ensures a proportionally representative result of a democratic election, x% of votes should be represented by x% in the democratic institutions, parliament or congress. ... Jump to: navigation, search Human beings have many variations in eye color. ... Sampling is that part of statistical practice concerned with the selection of individual observations intended to yield some knowledge about a population of concern, especially for the purposes of statistical inference. ...

Some [Ulbig 2005] argue that cynicism and distrust towards government of disadvantaged minorities is partly due to not having representatives with similar characteristics. Supporters of this argument point out that as descriptive representation increases, distrust decreases. This can be the basis of laws imposing that half the candidates on a given list be women (for example in France since 2001) or of voluntary symbolic measures (Spain's current government has 8 women and 8 men). Opponents of such as logic point out that after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, polls indicated that only 2% of African-Americans supported the Bush administration despite the high-profile nominations of Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. Jump to: navigation, search Hurricane Katrina was the eleventh named tropical storm, fourth hurricane, third major hurricane, and first Category 5 hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. ... Jump to: navigation, search New Orleans (local pronunciations: , , or ) (French: La Nouvelle-Orléans, pronounced in standard French accent) is a major U.S. port city and the largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Bush administration is a group of people that includes President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Bushs Cabinet, and other select officials and advisors. ... Jump to: navigation, search Colin Luther Powell, (pronounced koh-lihn, born April 5, 1937) was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving from January 20, 2001 to January 26, 2005 under President George W. Bush. ... Jump to: navigation, search Condoleezza Rice, Ph. ...

Apportionment

Apportionment, or reapportionment, is the process of distributing seats for a legislative body among different sectors of the country by creating constituencies. Typically, this is done proportionally to the population in the individual sectors to prevent unequal representation among different constituencies. The United States, for instance, delimits the House of Representatives seats proportionally between states, who then create districts for House members to run in. A constituency is any cohesive corporate unit or body bound by shared structures, goals or loyalty. ... House of Representatives is a name used for legislative bodies in many countries. ... Redistricting, known as redistribution in many Commonwealth countries, is the changing of political borders (in many countries, specifically the electoral district/constituency boundaries) usually in response to periodic census results. ...

Apportionment is also applied in party-list proportional representation elections to distribute seats between different parties once they've won a particular percentage of the vote, much like how different U.S. states obtain different shares of the population from the census. Party-list proportional representation systems are a family of voting systems used in multiple-winner elections (e. ... Jump to: navigation, search A census is the process of obtaining information about every member of a population (not necessarily a human population). ...

Because there is almost certain to be some degree of rounding error, different mathematical schemes for calculating apportionment can produce different results in terms of seats for the relevant party or sector. These methods include the Jefferson method, the Webster method, the Huntington-Hill method, and the Hamilton method. The dHondt method is a highest averages method for allocating seats in party-list proportional representation. ... The Sainte-Laguë method of the highest average (also known as Websters method or divisor method with standard rounding) is one way of allocating seats proportionally for representative assemblies with party list voting systems. ... The largest remainder method is one way of allocating seats proportionally for representative assemblies with party list voting systems. ...

See also: United States Congressional apportionment, Apportionment in the European Parliament. Jump to: navigation, search The membership of the United States House of Representatives changes each decade following the decennial United States Census. ... The apportionment of seats among member states in the European Parliament is not strictly in accordance with size of population. ...

Malapportionment

Malapportionment, or unequal representation, is broad and systematic variance in the size of electoral constituencies resulting in disproportionate representation for a given voter. Malapportionment is only possible within electoral systems that have districted constituencies - an electoral system with only one national constituency, such as those in Israel and the Netherlands, cannot be malapportioned.

It is a tendency for the size of constituencies to vary according to some factor such as geographic location. Well-known examples include the differences between urban and rural constituency sizes in many Australian states (currently Western Australia, though Queensland and South Australia in the past afforded far more notorious examples), and the recently abolished smaller United Kingdom parliamentary constituencies in Scotland. The UK retains a substantial malapportionment in favour of urban voters, which currently benefits the British Labour Party. The effects of malapportionment vary with time: deliberate over-representation of rural Queensland changed from favouring Labor to favouring the National Party. Jump to: navigation, search Motto: Cygnis Insignis (Distinguished by its swans) Nickname: Wildflower State Other Australian states and territories Capital Perth Government Governor Premier Const. ... Jump to: navigation, search Motto: Audax at Fidelis (Bold but Faithful) Nickname: Sunshine State/Smart State Other Australian states and territories Capital Brisbane Government Governor Premier Const. ... Jump to: navigation, search Motto: United for the Common Wealth Nickname: Festival State Other Australian states and territories Capital Adelaide Government Governor Premier Const. ... Timeline of Scottish history Caledonia List of not fully sovereign nations Subdivisions of Scotland National parks (Scotland) Traditional music of Scotland Flower of Scotland Wars of Scottish Independence National Trust for Scotland Historic houses in Scotland Castles in Scotland Museums in Scotland Abbeys and priories in Scotland Gardens in Scotland... The Labour Party is a centre-left or social democratic political party in Britain (see British politics), and one of the United Kingdoms three main political parties. ...

In contrast to the United States House of Representatives, which is only malapportioned slightly due to rounding error, the United States Senate is deliberately malapportioned, granting two senators to every state regardless of population size. This results in two senators representing over 33 million Californians and two senators representing less than half a million citizens of Wyoming, leading to an individual voter in Wyoming having nearly 66 times the voting power of a Californian. However, it must be remembered that at the time the United States Constitution was written, the Senate was intended to represent the interests of the states themselves rather than the residents of those states, and thus apportionment was divided equally among the states rather than among the population at large. Jump to: navigation, search Seal of the Senate The United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the Congress of the United States, the other being the House of Representatives. ... Jump to: navigation, search State nickname: The Golden State Other U.S. States Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) Senators Dianne Feinstein (D) Barbara Boxer (D) Official languages English Area 410,000 km² (3rd)  - Land 404,298 km²  - Water 20,047 km² (4. ... State nickname: Equality State Other U.S. States Capital Cheyenne Largest city Cheyenne Governor Dave Freudenthal (D) Senators Craig Thomas (R) Mike Enzi (R) Official languages English Area 253,554 km² (10th)  - Land 251,706 km²  - Water 1,851 km² (0. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. ...

The United States Senate has become steadily more malapportioned since its creation. In 1787, it would have taken a theoretical 30 percent of the nation to elect half of the Senate. Today, in 2005, it would take only 17 percent of the nation to elect half the Senate. Extremes of representation have also increased. Virginia's population in 1787 was only twelve times Delaware's. Today, California's population is over 66 times greater than Wyoming's. (see History of the United States Senate and Connecticut Compromise) The history of the United States Senate is the complex series of events that occured in the United States Senate since the ratification of the Constitution in 1788. ... The Connecticut Compromise of 1787 in the United States, later known as the Great Compromise, was struck in the creation of legislative bodies. ...

Senate malapportionment leads to great distortions in federal spending. As an example, in the 2005 federal highway bill, California and Texas, the two largest states, only received $77 and $36 per person, respectively. Wyoming and Vermont, the two smallest states, received $269 and $544, respectively. Alaska, the third smallest state, received $1,501 per person.

Another example is the systematic over-representation of voters in more rural prefectures and under-representation of voters in more urban prefectures in elections to the Japanese parliament. The conservative Liberal Democratic Party thus wins more seats in the Japanese parliament because its voters are concentrated in more rural prefectures. The National Diet of Japan (国会; Kokkai) is Japans legislature. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), also known as Jiyū Minshutō (自由民主党, or the abbreviation Jimin-tō 自民党) is the largest political party in Japan, as of 2004. ...

See also: rotten boroughs Jump to: navigation, search The term rotten borough (or pocket borough, as they were seen as being in the pocket of a patron) refers to a parliamentary borough or constituency in the Kingdom of England (pre-1707), the Kingdom of Great Britain (1707-1801), the Kingdom of Ireland (1536-1801...

References

• Ulbig, Stacy G. (2005) "Political Realities and Political Trust: Descriptive Representation in Municipal Government". Southwestern Political Science Association Meeting. Retrieved from [1] on July 19, 2005.
• Breakdown of Federal Highway Spending, State by State

Jump to: navigation, search July 19 is the 200th day (201st in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 165 days remaining. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Analysis of reapportionment after the 1990 US census