POL_S 305 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Jeannette Rankin, Visual Descriptor, Intersectionality
Document Summary
Descriptive representation not only entails visual descriptors such as race and gender, but. A also internal descriptors such as shared experience and background. Descriptive representation and substantive representation can accomplish different things. Selective descriptive representation is far more common and likely to occur because it works better in current political systems. Though there are several arguments agains descriptive representation, mansbridge feels the benefits are substantial. Benefits such as de facto legitimacy (where historical minorities feel they have participated because someone who was like them did participate) are exponential and can have large impacts. Definition: "descriptive representatives, that is, individuals who in their own backgrounds mirror some of the more frequent experiences and out ward manifestations of belonging to the group (pg 628) Quotable: "when i vote my conscience as a black man, i necessarily represent the black community. I don"t have any trouble knowing what the black community thinks or wants" (fenno. Women"s interests and the research imperative of intersectionality.
