TRUST AND AUTHORITY IN MODERN POLITICAL REPRESENTATION

Abstract

The  focus on the  vision of political representation as free  representation based on democratic  trust  obscures the fact  that  representation is a power  relationship. Although visions of representation as existential representation suffer from conservatism, they have methodological interest to reveal authority as a matter of the relationship between the voters and those elected. Through the thought of Max Weber, Maurice Hauriou and Giuseppe Duso, this article develops a concept of political representation  that establishes the duration and stability  of the compliance of the voters  as a prerequisite  of this political  institution. A legal explanation of representation leaves on one side the political elements —the charisma of representatives  and membership  of the elites— which facilitate a more comprehensive view of this mandate of democratic power.