description of each, and then drawing on current research that reXects on how
legislative organization reaches these ideals and the manners in which it frequently
falls short.
- 1 Representation
Legislatures are plural bodies with larger membership than executives, and so oVer
the possibility both to represent more accurately the range of diversity in the polity,
and to foster closer connections between representatives and voters. The diversity
represented in legislatures may be deWned along collective lines; that is, represen-
tation operates through groups of politicians who are selected in ‘‘teams’’ to
represent some set of interests. The rules by which collective representatives are
selected, in turn, must identify some set of principles deWning interests, such as
geographical location, partisanship, race, ethnicity, gender, language, religion, etc.
Alternatively, legislatures may include representatives who simply draw strong
individual-level support from sub-groups of voters who self-identify by their
choice of which candidates to support. Most legislatures have elements of both
sorts of representation, but individualism and collectivism entail trade-oVs and
cannot be maximized simultaneously.
- 2 Deliberation
Legislatures are forums for debate and reasoned consideration of the diverse
viewpoints they embrace. Their internal workings are supposed to be subject to
monitoring from outside actors. By forcing debate into an open setting, legislatures
may limit admissible arguments on behalf of interests or policy positions to those
that can be defended in public. Furthermore, by virtue of their transparency,
legislatures open the possibility that representatives can be held accountable for
their actions by those they represent. In practice, however, the extent to which
legislative deliberation and decision-making is transparent to those outside
the institutions varies considerably, which in turn aVects the extent to which
legislatures can serve as vehicles for transparency and accountability.
- 3 Information
The size of legislatures also allows for specialization and the development of
expertise among members. Legislatures are frequently organized so as to encourage
432 john m. carey