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This book starts out from the deep concern with contemporary tendencies towards depoliticisation of public issues and popular interests and makes a case for rethinking more democratic popular representation. It outlines a framework for popular representation, examines key issues and experiences and provides a policy-oriented conclusion.

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PART I: INTRODUCTION The Problem is Representation! Towards an Analytical Framework; O.Törnquist PART II: DEEPENING THE PERSPECTIVE What is the Relationship Between Participation and Representation?; N.Chandohoke The Paradox of Civil Society Representation: Constructing New Forms of Democratic Legitimacy in Brazil; P.P.Houtzager & A.Gurza Lavalle Practices of Symbolic Representation; K.Stokke & E.Selboe PART III: REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNANCE? Representative Governance or the Co-Option of Citizens? The Status of Service Users in Local Politics in West Bengal; N.Webster The Politics of Gradualismo: Popular Particpation and Decentralized Governance in Mozambique; L.Buur Representation by Design? Variations on Participatory Governance in Brazilian Municipios; G.Baiocchi & P.Heller PART IV: CHALLENGES OF POPULAR REPRESENTATION Patronage Democracy in Provincial Indonesia; G.V.Klinken Compromised Democracy: Observations on Popular Democratic Representation from Urban India; J.Harriss Trade Unions and Popular Representation: Alliances and Institution Building African Experiences; B.Beckman Popular Politics of Representation: Dilemmas and Experiments in Indonesia, the Indian State of Kerala, and the Philippines; O.Törnquist , N.Quimpo & M.Tharakan PART V: CONCLUSIONS Implications for Policy and Practice; N.Webster , O.Törnquist & K.Stokke

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"This innovative, insightful exploration of democratic political representation helps clarify why democracy has stagnated in many parts of the developing world and what can be done to revitalize it. The editors have assembled a top-notch cross-regional group of experts andorganized the work around a lucid analytic framework of utility to aid practitioners, civic activists, and scholars." - Thomas Carothers, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

"Despite waves of democratic upsurge, why does popular representation need re-thinking? Because states are commodified and captured, stripped of democratic politics, and because representation is fractured and ´un-popular.´ This book examines how democratic representation can be scaled up. It is a uniquely valuable addition to our understanding of democratic governance." - Barbara Harriss-White, Professor, Department of International Development, Oxford University

"A deeply engaged, engaging, and diverse volume for all of us interested in reducing the democratic deficit in poor countries." - Mick Moore, Professor, Institute of Development Studies

"This is a very significant and high-quality contribution to some pressing debates around the politics of development and democratization in the post-colonial world. These include the important challenges involved in securing not only the inclusion but also the influence of marginal and poor peoples in key decision-making processes that shape their lives, and of the deeper processes of state and citizenship formation that shape these possibilities." - Samuel Hickey, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Development Policy and Management, University of Manchester

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