On 7 September 2024, Eline Severs (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) presented the paper “Audience Power and the Configuration of Political Representation” at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association (APSA) in Philadelphia, USA.
The paper develops an ecological approach to political representation, emphasising the active role of audiences in shaping, contesting, and reinterpreting representative claims. Building on systemic and constructivist theories, Severs argues that audiences are not passive recipients but co-producers of representation – influencing its meaning, legitimacy, and performative impact.
This approach challenges traditional deliberative hierarchies by integrating participation, identity formation, and deliberation into a broader conceptual framework. It reframes political representation as a dynamic and distributed process, situated within multiple sites of democratic interaction — from institutional arenas to digital platforms.
The presentation contributes to REDIRECT’s theoretical objectives and strengthens its engagement with cutting-edge scholarship on democratic practices, communication, and legitimacy.
Date: 7 September 2024
Location: APSA Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, USA
Partner: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Author and presenter: Eline Severs
Type of event: Conference
#PoliticalRepresentation #AudienceAgency #RepresentativeEcology #REDIRECT #APSA2024