About — INCONEX

Political representation is about presence and absence. Yet, does advocating for ‘the poor’ mean not advocating for ‘the rich’, representing rural interests not representing urban ones, and speaking for young people neglecting the concerns of the elderly?

Political scientists have solid theories and empirics on who is made present in the political process, but lack an understanding of the politics of absence — who is made absent by whom, how, when, and why? Amid an urgent crisis of representation in modern democracies, this research uncovers crucial power dynamics (who & whom?), identifies inequalities (how, when & why?) and addresses policy gaps (what to do?).

Building on the PI’s record of leading research on political representation, INCONEX fundamentally pushes the boundaries of the field: it is the first to develop a comprehensive conceptualization of representative absence. It identifies two agents of absence — representatives and citizens — and two types of absence — intentional and unintentional.

A conceptual framework

Two agents, two types of absence

Representatives · intentional

Excluded electorates

Representatives can intentionally exclude groups from the electorate — for example, migrants.

Representatives · unintentional

Intangible interests

They may also unintentionally overlook groups whose interests are intangible — such as future generations.

Citizens · intentional

Concealed constituents

Constituents may deliberately conceal themselves — for instance, ‘the rich’.

Citizens · unintentional

Invisible interests

Or their interests remain invisible because they are unaware of their group belonging — ‘those in need’.

Methodology

The empirical strategy of INCONEX

The project investigates the representative relationship between members of the Austrian, German and Spanish national parliaments (lower houses), members of the European Parliament (EP), and their constituencies. To map presence and absence, INCONEX:

Systematically studies the who(m), how, when and why of absences in representation from both sides of the representative relationship and in a multi-level perspective.
Applies theory-guided machine learning techniques and qualitative content analysis to capture presence and absence in parliamentary debate in the EU.
Employs in-depth interviews and focus groups with MPs, MEPs and their constituencies to understand the process behind absences.
Builds a comprehensive theory of representative absence, the conditions that shape it, and its implications for how we (should) do political representation.