Politisk representation och etisk komplexitet - Den politiska representantens spänningsfulla uppdrag
Authoritative decisionsRepresentationResponsiveness to votersLoyalty to the partyEthical complexityPolitical and administrative sciencesStatsvetenskapFörvaltningskunskapLaw and Political Science
This article discusses desirable political representation within the framework of representative democracy. In the desirable representation it is the responsibility of the politician to balance authoritative decision making with responsiveness towards the voters. The article intends to make visible the ethical complexity within representative democracy. Ethically the commission to represent is further complicated because the political parties constitute a central role in the political life and request loyalty of the politician. At the same time the politician is elected by the voters and thus the representative has to balance the dual representation.The politician can meet supplementary but also contradictory norms of action in decision taking. The normative logic of appropriateness gives a productive fundamental principle in the political reasoning in ethical decisions. The political reality is ethically complex hence the complexity should not be reduced in decision making. The politician always has a personal moral responsibility and should therefore carefully reason before deciding on the course of action.The study includes a case study with a member of parliament who encounters contradictory recommendations of action from the local constituency's voters and from the party. The case study highlights an ethical representational conflict and illustrates how politicians balance the dual representation.