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| | Challenges to the Concept and Practice of Political Representation in Australia (Research Paper 28 1998-99) |
 | | Political representation has become increasingly complex and contentious, in part, due to the success of social movements in raising demands for the fairer representation of 'groups' or 'identities' that were previously discounted, such as those based on gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality and disability. |
 | | The 'trustee' model appeared most distinctly among members of the Liberal party, while the 'delegate' model was filled mainly by Labor MPs who saw themselves as 'party delegates', or by new MPs who were keen on consolidating their seats who saw themselves as delegates of their constituencies. |
 | | This aspect of representation remains sadly neglected in Australia, and there are few constituency-based studies of political representation in Australia.(90) The survey-based research on representational roles, however, suggests that the second face of representation, the MP in the constituency, remains important both in terms of how MPs perceive their roles and in their actual behaviour. |
| www.aph.gov.au /library/pubs/rp/1998-99/99rp28.htm (8981 words) |
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