About

Wendy Salkin is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy and, by courtesy, of Law at Stanford University. Her research focuses on political philosophy, philosophy of law, philosophy of race, and Africana philosophy, intersecting with questions in moral philosophy, feminist philosophy, and law. She authored the book Speaking for Others: The Ethics of Informal Political Representation, published by Harvard University Press on July 9, 2024, which was awarded the 2024 Apostolos P. Stefanopoulos Book Prize. During 2025–2026, she is serving as a Laurance S. Rockefeller Visiting Faculty Fellow at the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. Salkin holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Harvard University, a J.D. from Stanford Law School, and a B.A. in Philosophy and Africana Studies from New York University. Her professional background includes serving as a law clerk to judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and as a legal advisor to Judge Rosemary Barkett on the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal in The Hague. In April 2024, she received the Phi Beta Kappa Northern California Association Teaching Excellence Award.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Sociology
• Law
• Artificial Intelligence
• Law and economics
• Computer Science
• Epistemology
• Political economy

Selected publications

• The Speaking for Spectrum

  Journal of Philosophical Research · 2025-01-01

  article1st authorCorresponding

  In this essay, I respond to both David Estlund’s “But Do They Speak for Black People?” (this issue, 211–215) and Anne Iavarone-Turcotte’s “Speaking for Others Beyond Representation” (this issue, 217–228), commentaries on my book, Speaking for Others: The Ethics of Informal Political Representation (2024). Estlund asks whether my definitions of “representation” and “speaking for” stretch the meanings of these terms too far beyond their ordinary uses. In reply, I explain the senses of “speaking for,” “representation,” and “representative” I use in Speaking for Others and show that my use is not novel. I further introduce what I call “the speaking for spectrum,” which accommodates a variety of related phenomena. I conclude by restating the main aim of Speaking for Others: to understand better the familiar but undertheorized social practice of informal political representation, whereby people speak or act for others despite having been neither elected nor selected to do so by means of a systematized election or selection procedure. Iavarone-Turcotte explores how the “novel principles and criteria” I introduce in Speaking for Others apply to contexts “outside the core of” the book’s central focus (217–218). She does so by raising questions concerning the relationship between representation and speaking for, self-appointed spokespersons, intragroup marginalization, and two principles I introduce and examine in Speaking for Others: the descriptive preference principle and the nonmember deference principle. In answering these questions, I reaffirm the scope of the argument advanced in Speaking for Others and welcome the application of my theory to novel contexts beyond that scope.

  PublisherDOI

• Précis for _Speaking for Others: The Ethics of Informal Political Representation_

  PhilPapers (PhilPapers Foundation) · 2025-01-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  In Speaking for Others: The Ethics of Informal Political Representation, I provide a novel conceptual and normative theory of informal political representatives (IPRs), who speak or act for others despite having been neither elected nor selected to do so by means of a systematized election or selection procedure.IPRs are everywhere.Some are internationally recognized leaders of social movements.Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. informally represented Black Montgomerians during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and Black Americans generally throughout the course of the civil rights movement.Me Too movement leader Tarana Burke informally represents survivors of sexual assault, abuse, and harassment.Greta Thunberg informally represents Generation Z or, as she has put it, "we who have to live with the consequences" of climate change.Others are just our neighbors and friends.But when they go to the city council meeting to give voice to our neighborhood's shared interests, they become our representatives, too.Despite IPRs' ubiquity and significance to our political lives, their role is conceptually puzzling, morally troubling, and markedly undertheorized.The central ethical challenge of informal political representation is that IPRs can provide valuable political goods to those they represent; yet they are neither institutionally nor procedurally constrained in the ways formal political representatives (FPRs) like legislators are.Moreover, IPRs are often the only political actors working to advance the interests of oppressed and marginalized groups, meaning these groups rely on their IPRs.As a result, relationships between represented groups and their IPRs can be inegalitarian and oppressive.How may IPRs permissibly undertake activities central to their roles without thereby wronging those they represent?This is the question that drives my book.

  PublisherOA PDF

• Précis for Speaking for Others

  Journal of Philosophical Research · 2025-01-01

  article1st authorCorresponding

  In Speaking for Others: The Ethics of Informal Political Representation, I provide a novel conceptual and normative theory of informal political representatives (IPRs), who speak or act for others despite having been neither elected nor selected to do so by means of a systematized election or selection procedure. IPRs are everywhere. Some are internationally recognized leaders of social movements. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. informally represented Black Montgomerians during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and Black Americans generally throughout the course of the civil rights movement. Me Too movement leader Tarana Burke informally represents survivors of sexual assault, abuse, and harassment. Greta Thunberg informally represents Generation Z or, as she has put it, “we who have to live with the consequences” of climate change. Others are just our neighbors and friends. But when they go to the city council meeting to give voice to our neighborhood’s shared interests, they become our representatives, too. Despite IPRs’ ubiquity and significance to our political lives, their role is conceptually puzzling, morally troubling, and markedly undertheorized. The central ethical challenge of informal political representation is that IPRs can provide valuable political goods to those they represent; yet they are neither institutionally nor procedurally constrained in the ways formal political representatives (FPRs) like legislators are. Moreover, IPRs are often the only political actors working to advance the interests of oppressed and marginalized groups, meaning these groups rely on their IPRs. As a result, relationships between represented groups and their IPRs can be inegalitarian and oppressive. How may IPRs permissibly undertake activities central to their roles without thereby wronging those they represent? This is the question that drives my book.

  PublisherDOI

• You Say I Want a Revolution

  The Monist · 2024-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract An underexamined insight of W. E. B. Du Bois’s John Brown is that John Brown worked for much of his life to cultivate democratic relationships with the Black Americans with and for whom he worked. Brown did so through practicing deference and deliberation, and by seeking authorization. However, Brown’s commitment to these practices faltered at a crucial moment in decision making: when he raided Harpers Ferry absent widespread support. Examining this aspect of John Brown brings into relief an overlooked tragic choice Brown made: To act in accordance with his own substantive vision of what justice required, Brown eschewed democratic ideals and practices that grounded the distinctive relations of equality he had cultivated with the Black communities with and for whom he worked.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Speaking for Others from the Bench

  Legal Theory · 2023-06-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract In this article, I introduce and examine the novel concept of bench representation . Jurists and scholars have extensively examined whether judges are or ought to be considered symbolic representatives of abstract concepts (for instance, the law, equality, or justice), representatives of society as a whole, or descriptive representatives of the social groups from which they hail. However, little attention has been paid to the question whether judges act as representatives for the parties before them through their everyday work on the bench. This article examines that question. Bench representation occurs when a judge, through statements or actions undertaken during the performance of official duties, speaks or acts for a party to the proceeding before them. I argue that serving as a bench representative is a common and valuable feature of what it is to be a judge and, despite appearances, usually undermines neither impartiality nor fairness.

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• Democracy within, justice without: The duties of informal political representatives¹

  Noûs · 2021 · 18 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Political Science
  • Sociology
  • Political Science

  Abstract Informal political representation can be a political lifeline, particularly for oppressed and marginalized groups. Such representation can give these groups some say, however mediate, partial, and imperfect, in how things go for them. Coeval with the political goods such representation offers these groups are its particular dangers to them. Mindful of these dangers, skeptics challenge the practice for being, inter alia, unaccountable, unauthorized, inegalitarian, and oppressive. These challenges provide strong pro tanto reasons to think the practice morally impermissible. This paper considers the question: On what conditions is the informal political representation of oppressed and marginalized groups permissible? By responding to skeptics’ challenges, I develop a systematic account of moral constraints that, if adopted, would make such representation permissible. The account that emerges shows that informal political representatives (IPRs) must aim to fulfill two sets of sometimes conflicting duties to the represented: democracy within duties, which concern how the representative treats and relates to the represented, and justice without duties, which concern how the representative's actions advance the aims of the representation.

  PublisherDOI

• The Conscription of Informal Political Representatives*

  Journal of Political Philosophy · 2021 · 30 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Political Science
  • Political Science
  • Political economy

  Informal political representation—the phenomenon of speaking or acting on behalf of others although one has not been elected or selected to do so by means of a systematized election or selection procedure—plays a crucial role in advancing the interests of groups. Sometimes, those who emerge as informal political representatives (IPRs) do so willingly (voluntary representatives). But, often, people end up being IPRs, either in their private lives or in more public political forums, over their own protests (unwilling representatives) or even without their knowledge (unwitting representatives)—that is, they are conscripted. None of the few theories of informal political representation extant accommodate conscripted IPRs. The account detailed here introduces the phenomenon of conscripted informal political representation and explains its place in a complete theory of informal political representation. Conscripted IPRs can, like their voluntary counterparts, come to have significant power to influence how various audiences regard those for whom the conscripted IPRs speak or act. Upon attaining such power to influence, conscripted IPRs, like their voluntary counterparts, come to have pro tanto duties to those they represent—duties that arise despite IPRs’ unwittingness or unwillingness. Understanding the phenomenon of conscripted informal political representation allows us to surface essential normative questions about informal political representation that are otherwise occluded. As an IPR, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke and acted for Black Montgomerians from the pulpit,1 in political planning meetings,2 and in leaflets urging a bus boycott.3 He made demands on their behalves on the nightly news4 and in back rooms.5 He negotiated for them with the mayor of Montgomery, city commissioners, and bus company representatives.6 So positioned, King had significant power to shape the political negotiations that unfolded between boycotters, the City, and the bus company, and played a central role in shaping how Black Montgomerians’ values, interests, and preferences were understood by the rest of Montgomery.7 But to hear King tell it, this was not what he had planned, at least not at first: “I neither started the protest nor suggested it. I simply responded to the call of the people for a spokesman.”8 Then, on Thursday, December 8, 19559—the fourth day of the boycott10—King and other members of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) met with the “city fathers”11 to offer up a list of proposals on behalf of the Black Montgomerian community: “The mayor then turned to the Negro delegation and demanded: ‘Who is the spokesman?’ When all eyes turned toward [King], the mayor said: ‘All right, come forward and make your statement.’”12 Call this audience uptake. Audience uptake occurs when an audience—an individual or a group—takes a person or group to speak or act on behalf of another person or group.13 By King’s own account, he became an IPR for Black Montgomerians at that news conference when and because “all eyes turned toward [him]” after Montgomery’s Mayor Gayle asked “Who is the spokesman?”.14 Being taken to represent a group although one has not been elected or selected by means of a formal, systematized election or selection procedure is both a widespread and an undertheorized phenomenon.15 Often, we treat as a of political But informal political representation is neither an to nor is by even theories of political representation. we an account of informal political representation that the phenomenon on its own and not treat as of political representation. But, to such an account, we to what the phenomenon have IPRs as by of their own on people or who to speak or act for others neither elected nor selected to do as the IPR of the who as representatives by their own not the their they have a have in an to an IPR, one to do But not how is that people as representatives for various what the that a as an IPR a is not their own people IPRs when and because they are selected by others audience uptake. means often, people end up representatives despite their or even that they are so is not to an IPR, one make a or the is by an to representatives others are conscripted. so I informal political representation to accommodate both conscripted and voluntary IPRs. to to or that they represent a role in us how an IPR to in their and what their duties are so neither nor nor is for as an and conscripted IPRs theory in at least the theory us the on informal political representation by a of the phenomenon by other the power IPRs have to influence how the are by various audiences and how they come to have this power to the theory a more and more complete account of both how IPRs come to have duties to those they represent and how their duties they or were conscripted. of an duties emerge by of their power to influence not by of that that IPR have made to that role in a as an IPR, make a to what duties that what the that a is an IPR with what the that an IPR has duties by of being so a theory of informal political representation that conscripted IPRs of us what we the as we one of us an I a of IPRs and them from political representatives I audience for a as an the of conscripted IPRs to a complete theory of informal political representation. I conscripted informal political representation in and audiences IPRs. I the and duties of I normative of for the conscripted IPRs I Informal political representation is a of the more phenomenon of informal representation. Informal representation like its is a between a a and an informal is an individual or a group who or on behalf of another individual or group in a despite not been elected or selected by means of a systematized election or selection Call this When another such representatives are Informal representatives are selected by As we call the that the that is a of audience uptake. come in all and or one audience the at a political or a political or or individual or a group an informal of another individual or group in a in and audience uptake Informal representation is not more or political by of its and the in Informal political representation emerge in that are not and are the None of your is The to the of about not your own about here as an informal for people as about the as Then, the about how your about the of at with is not what we have in when we of political forums, are being to an informal a political this for a group of are a although that not informal representation arise in more or political informal speak or act in a political the as an IPR for as has it, who have to with the of representation is in a political as IPRs emerge at the between of informal representation are more or political by of their the in an IPR and the political power by the audiences in that that IPR has power to influence how of us are to have the and of power to influence to speak at the for an is of us IPRs at in the of lives in the political we for a have been asked to speak for all your when informal political representation as a that of us us how and are its Sometimes, IPRs are both and and in are even like King in the But not a like a come to make for a do not of as in of is, they as IPRs for or we to them of their as IPRs and them of the duties I from that they then IPRs. how were they to they represent at the that they have duties to others by of is simply of that we end up speaking or acting for at the or in the in of IPRs from in an to that political representation is an of political representation of informal political representation is a in and informal is The or for a group by of a systematized election or The procedure to and IPRs after a they come to or from or all of those for whom they are taken to speak this group a of audience But informal from more is not a for as an to represent with the of are by in of and IPRs represent with they represent are not and for are for as in and informal so have in for representatives an to or informal what or more and individual or a group as both an and an IPR, at the and for King the Montgomery Improvement and the Black I audience uptake and how about IPRs. Audience uptake when an audience one to speak or act for another in Audience uptake is the for the of an is, one an IPR when and because one is taken to speak or act for or group an and not an audience the the that a is an IPR for a group one as this has one one come to an IPR although we have that the of IPR is, like its with the of the by IPRs with representatives they not is for audience uptake to in its from to the for in a audience uptake audience a or or to a group or its audience a or as a of about a group or its audience on a when to what a members or audience a or to in for a group or its members when the interests are at in a is not all of the for audience uptake to and other uptake. as a the more the more we that audience uptake has both and by of a to represent a group in a the audience a had about the here has a at an in one an audience had taken a to represent a that audience the to in as the of that group is to the audience that one audience to an IPR for a group in one an IPR for that group from the of that not that an IPR for that group from the of other from this that another audience to represent a group not to I another uptake without uptake with another audience its uptake not that uptake. I that audience for its uptake or to its uptake. that audience on the as an IPR, even over in or and or are a at an news in your news to how your are up the after a your emerge as an IPR for your at that other uptake not all at are a who has for and on the of on the lives of people in that your to of are to speak in public about the are taken to speak for uptake or in the The an IPR for that one By although the have come to as an IPR they in the for Audience uptake more in in the audience is one person or a of uptake Gayle King to speak as By a more or private audience is uptake more in their private then its to speak for in are even more when the audience is not an individual a audience members at the had to regard as an IPR for for to that the as to is to simply that members of an audience regard a as an IPR, others do are as to how IPRs a group IPRs their uptake from the and even not from the audience Audience uptake even the audience that to speak or act for others not that I audiences in the city made a to the Mayor Gayle met with who were not members of the the and and to the that that a had been the of the Montgomery the that the Negro had to a for and for as the to the the on the Mayor Gayle was simply acting as were representatives for Montgomery’s Black the for audience uptake. Gayle to that were IPRs for Black others come to this and audience to to negotiations with King, whom he had as the significant IPR of Black The here is a is to that make audience uptake more without audience uptake from that make uptake more us the place and of a complete theory of informal political representation. a a the of the uptake in a the uptake. that make audience uptake more they are not audience uptake. that audience uptake is not or even for to an to in an audience is in to represent a group and in an audience as a of a to do so us of in is one of few Black at an in the is in a political theory with the to the of up Black in the to to speak for Black the audience is in was and in and to the for to the have such a of audience of a the of that do not this an audience uptake in an then the uptake is not are we has the audience come to regard as Black has the audience so in an The to is they are questions and as The the audience about this means the audience to speaking or acting for Black the audience regard as a of Black by so they make have this role on by so has a the power to influence how regard Black is to to audience to uptake. But is for them an IPR of Black for or The The audience as Black despite of knowledge about what is like to up Black in and despite the that up in The audience is at least for being to the and for But the neither its uptake nor make the that uptake has not the that an uptake is not uptake has not on the of the audience members have a that Black By uptake this we a of the of power that arise between the even in in audience the audience and the IPR come to have power with to the the audience power to a power on the such that that and are to the and the is with power to influence how the group is by the audience and as a the is that audience uptake the that one is an an make to a or an as a The or a or a audience who the or to another representation. By audience uptake as the for the of an IPR, the account audiences and IPRs and who we otherwise have have the to who or for account not audiences this account power that audiences in have by what at the of being an IPR power to and what that power the account more and more how IPRs on The audience in to represent Black the audience to represent Black their uptake not about a for are group about the or as group are for a of a or an about a or to that make audience uptake more by they are not for is an The between informal political representation and other of the are Often, an for a to an IPR is that the is a or an or we the to a between an for about uptake and the that uptake has I various for to IPRs in although audience has uptake on a an the audience has to on IPRs, not those to the audience the have as an is an The audience to as is an audience has otherwise to represent not have on the that the audience by not its and we even had the audience those uptake have But the has not been and uptake not IPR has the here are not IPRs not that they are not representatives at of representation to as the in to a for or not to what to an IPR has is audience members that to speak or act for a a to represent is not for that to emerge as an IPR, the and of the to I in has at as a for has been with of public of of of the of is an of of audience on the that is an IPR for Black this has significant power to influence how a of audiences regard Black he is taken up by audiences and to other Black as of their own values, and has this power of to I he I for the public and I I But I for a was conscripted. IPR is conscripted in they are taken by audience to speak or act for do not to speak or act for that is, the is or is for of us to conscripted the role of IPR in the of is more for is an so members of that has for news like for Black and to on of in As is for members of a to members of to speak or act for the of the of they are on the that members of are or that is in about are of this what audiences to that audiences IPRs, for what do they people others to those Audience by a of interests to IPRs. audience about a group or group in a regard for a are not audience by are IPRs so as to for a or to more with the or IPRs or the with the the of an IPR as a means to the regard for either the IPR or the at the of are members of to a both to to and to up its public as an not to the audience are not and an audience a to an IPR because the audience that to an and the audience that to an by of that group By and audience and we are to IPR occurs and whom us what an uptake for a conscripted IPR and to whom of those duties is in we how an power to IPRs to duties for the audience have a of power to who or for another to a is to to with power they not “I for a what duties such power with this of us is to when we make on others that they do for us and to and so is and for us to make those on this we at least audience to that one is an one to when one one to so is and of in that one is an Audience uptake is neither nor one a person to speak or act for others in those one is an audience or of an audience uptake. is not or to when one acting as an few of I we are acting as an audience in a we do we that the is of audience members uptake we one or we to them with questions about the or their we then those not to other or other The phenomenon is not about as IPRs The of us is simply to that we or as a group an of what is to that one is an audience is to that one has the to make a of on that they speak or act for that one is an audience is one on that one has the to another in the of we to not that we have this when we to it. when one of us is to to when we to IPRs and what us to do so in those to when we to this and for so in to in those we one to a that have both that are an audience and a in to The is a to an your as an to this to speak or act for this to this to speak or act for this your to either is then not to the to speak or act for the to that the has knowledge or to speak or act for the group in the at this is who has a of to a to speak or act on behalf of the on their to in an audience is not is to that the in has knowledge or that audience to other audience the in to an IPR about uptake. that another audience to an IPR not by one to do that other uptake By on their one their we that to extant IPRs to other IPRs with from audiences have because duties emerge from power to IPRs, and even audiences have that because audiences do not they are so positioned, they not for to their audience although they for to they are audiences in the to about the or for to have taken to speak or act for Black that is a of a group and audience members of the is a to speak or act even for a group of is a at the and for to to speak or act for other Black at the of the the is of the Black Association the a and for the about the and of Black at the are to and in either for to to speak or act for other Black at the both for to that has knowledge to speak or act for at least Black at the that the of in As has with to the of those in to the and of Black at the to the have been up by an as of its Black The an to speak for Black at the that uptake is not of a uptake of as an public for Black at the for to to represent Black at the to speak or act for Black at the or is to a and for to that is to represent other Black at the is the not Black at the as election to a the of Black that to as an IPR for Black to not taken as an IPR in the is in both both to represent Black at the in not that in one not to represent in other uptake. other Black at the to represent an election to as that a of members to represent them in this that Black at the to represent them in an informal on the of members a of Black at the and is a that as IPRs for Black on a about the and of Black at the not as to Black at the to represent have from other widespread and from other Black on the make that to represent Black in to or group uptake the of the in this have to that simply and that all Black either what other Black or the to an IPR is to both and and one not to another without and normative theory of informal political representation. audience about an IPR, that IPR power to influence, and the are at the of in of the IPR not for the power in the audience not they were an all this the conscripted IPRs I pro tanto duties that to IPRs and how those duties on of the IPR I when a conscripted IPR duties that otherwise to them by of their and their for by a for their representation. pro tanto duties to the in both and on a of of their how power they have to influence how the are to they or to have that they are an IPR how they are to an IPR and and how other between the IPR and the on the and of the duties to and of power to influence from to on various how an audience they and the of their IPRs have as power to influence as or King or your audience is your at the of power have as an IPR your audience is, are your and regard the of your to the of the on the nightly news was in they spoke for their and they spoke on the of their IPR with power to influence has duties to the an IPR who has power to IPR duties power to influence, all the of duties as of power the power to influence is by not simply because the power is or even one is an IPR, and even one is or even by been made an IPR, one have power to influence how the are by various audiences and to the interests and the of the is that that one has or to such power to to pro tanto duties to those one IPRs have duties to the even they have power to because IPRs do not they are so positioned, they are not for to their duties to the of knowledge is, in for to IPR duties is, a knowledge IPRs for to IPR duties in to them to that they are IPRs. who emerge as IPRs the role or even have for it. conscripted voluntary representatives to on what end up being by their to voluntary representatives both make others the representation to them and in the how they an IPR is make a to the and of duties that IPR has to the a IPR, a IPR they are taken to a IPR, the IPR neither nor to the is that an IPR have either the to represent or the to the speaking for one of is the IPR to the of duties that to a in their or the of the of duties the I for in conscripted IPR has to the of duties that otherwise to them by of their power to influence at least when the for an IPR or for this in to an IPR, are or the IPR to their or the duties for the conscripted Audience and audience and audience by a conscripted of the of IPR duties that otherwise have to of uptake that or the or the to their of the of to represent or even to the or are on interests with the or the that all members of the group are or then the conscripted the of to represent or simply on that a conscripted IPR not in an a and political with as had to a for the Black like have to the for your that speak for person that like I to a and being a Black on not that a conscripted IPR has to the of duties that otherwise to them by of their power to influence end the on the often, or for a conscripted IPR to represent or the otherwise of the of a to represent or in by the and for that in to represent or such and one not representation with the one in or group a to or another the asked to a group a not that the not to represent the the conscripted duties and end with a to the role and others or more to even this or But what this is the a conscripted IPR is in by of or to represent a group that has and for the conscripted IPR then has not to represent when a a conscripted IPR is not to the duties that otherwise to an IPR so or the for a is and and either the is to represent the group the to or is or more to represent the to in to like other that make on us simply because we are in a place at a other we to that even that or us on us to so we that an even or in an IPR to a and explains a phenomenon so not by informal political that theory of informal political representation have to about this phenomenon as a of its and is not the of those who with and as or for speaking and acting for others is a of one of us at despite or over taken to speak or act for we or what we or do to or even shaping how they are by a of a when we how to with and act to what is of us that we are representatives in of is or not we as their is an audience on us the power to power to the lives and of those for whom we are taken to speak or act. a being conscripted as an IPR is not at all Often, although we do not to we in that of us that we that we the to offer or the to others of are when we are taken to represent audience a on us that we speak or act in that the audience has or us by this on that by of audience we come to have power to influence the lives of what we or do on their the a of the power and of audience uptake make all of When we a to speak or act for we both and make a on them that they represent others as we to do so in both and and conscripted informal political representation allows us to a more complete and theory of informal political that informal political representation more the of us to as representatives and audiences in of not by and by what the of that we in the role of or by

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• Judicial Representation: Speaking for Others from the Bench

  Cambridge University Press eBooks · 2020 · 3 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Political Science
  • Sociology
  • Political Science

  Being represented has value. When another speaks for me, they can give voice to my perspective or interests in fora where my perspective or interests might otherwise go unheard or even unspoken. They may give voice to interests which I do not know how to express or which I do not even know I have. Our traditional understanding of political representation is that it is an activity that takes place only or mostly in discrete and easily recognizable legislative fora – for instance, the Senate or the House of Representatives. But, if we instead think of political representation as a practice of speaking or acting for others that could, in theory, arise anywhere a person’s or a group’s interests arise, then it turns out that political representation may take place anywhere there is a speaker or an actor and an audience.

  PublisherDOI

• Informal Political Representation: Normative and Conceptual Foundations

  Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH) (Harvard University) · 2018-05-11 · 3 citations

  dissertation1st authorCorresponding

  It is possible that, as you read this, there is someone out there standing in for you, speaking in your voice, acting in your stead, making agreements on your behalf, or conceding a point you might not have wanted them to. They are not your congressperson, your lawyer, or your spouse—nor anyone else authorized by means of a formal, corporately organized election or selection procedure. There is another sort of representative out there, someone you did not elect, someone you perhaps would not elect, of whom you may never have heard, speaking or acting on your behalf right now—they are an informal political representative.\nFormal political representation is a familiar topic within democratic theory. Much less discussed, though no less widespread, is informal political representation: a practice in which a person speaks or acts for a group before an audience, despite never having been elected or selected to do so by means of a corporately organized election or selection procedure. Informal political representation is an everyday feature of our public communicative landscape. It is woven taut into the fabric of our political lives. Malala Yousafzai claims: “I speak not for myself, but so those without a voice can be heard.” Bono claims to “represent a lot of people who have no voice at all,” though “[t]hey haven’t asked me either. It’s cheeky, but I hope they’re glad I do . . . ” President Trump, before his nomination, was said “to give a voice to those who have long felt silenced.”\nThe informal representative, though neither elected nor selected, is ubiquitous and politically influential. They increase the visibility of marginalized and oppressed groups, give voice to interests not adequately expressed in formal political fora, influence public discourse, and serve as conduits between the represented and policymakers. They can, as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., did in Montgomery, negotiate on a group’s behalf. But so far, few have attempted to provide a theory of this phenomenon that gives full attention to both its conceptual and normative foundations. My dissertation provides a theory of informal political representation that does not treat the phenomenon as a mere deviant case of formal political representation, but rather takes informal political representation on its own terms.\nIn Chapter One, “The Phenomenon of Informal Political Representation,” I provide a novel account of this phenomenon. I argue that a person or group emerges as an informal political representative when and because they have been taken by an audience (on the basis of sufficient evidence) to speak or act on behalf of a group—call this audience uptake. Characterizing the phenomenon in this way reveals that one can end up speaking or acting for others though they are reluctant to do so (the unwilling representative) and perhaps even though they are unaware they are in such a position (the unwitting representative).\nIn Chapter Two, “Representative Powers,” I make a distinction between two types of powers that informal representatives can have with respect to those they represent: de facto power and normative powers. The informal representative has de facto power simply in virtue of receiving audience uptake. The informal representative’s de facto power is their ability to affect the interests and constrain the choices available to the represented group. Because the informal representative has de facto power to impact the represented group’s circumstances, they have corresponding general moral duties to the represented group, even if neither the representative nor the represented group wants that representative to occupy the position. The informal representative may also have normative powers with respect to the represented, but only if the representative has received group uptake. I illustrate the phenomenon of group uptake using the example of the Montgomery bus boycott, during which King emerged as an informal representative for black Montgomerians.\nIn Chapter Three, “Democracy Within, Justice Without: The Duties of Informal Political Representatives,” I focus on cases of informal political representation where the representative speaks or acts for a group whose members are not afforded equal treatment in their society. I argue that, to promote the realization of a society of equals, informal representatives for such groups must aim to satisfy two types of duties: (i) justice without duties: the representative’s duties to use their position to promote conditions of social equality for the represented group when they are before an audience; and (ii) democracy within duties: the representative’s duty to forge a democratic relationship between themself and the represented whereby they treat the represented as their equals and do not dominate the represented.\nIn Chapter Four, “The Complaints of the Represented,” I provide a framework for understanding the legitimate complaints that the represented may raise against the informal political representative. The relationship between the informal representative and those they represent is a wide-ranging and many-voiced conversation. It is a dialogue, an ongoing exchange of ideas, reasons, explanations, and justifications passed between the representative and the represented. As such, it is important to understand one of the most important features of that ongoing exchange—namely, the legitimate complaints of the represented. The aim of this chapter is to zero in on those types of legitimate complaints which could only sensibly be raised against someone who is in the position of informal representative and which could only sensibly be raised by the represented themselves.\nIn Chapter Five, “The Limits of Similitude and Deference,” I consider two principles that have been endorsed as necessary constraints on the practice of informal political representation, which I call, respectively, The Demand for Similitude (Similitude) and The Demand for Deference (Deference). According to Similitude, one may be an informal representative for a group only if either one is oneself a member of that group or one is descriptively similar to the group’s members. According to Deference, if one is an informal representative for a group, then one ought always to defer to that group’s members when deciding how to represent the group. I argue that these two principles, when stated as necessary constraints, are false. I offer that, instead, we have good reason to endorse weaker versions of these two principles. I then argue that, in fact, (i) in some cases, we should favor representation by people who are neither members of the group they represent nor descriptively similar to group members, and (ii) in some cases, deference to the group’s members is not best for the represented group.

  Publisher

Education

• Law Student, Law

  Stanford Law School

  2013

Awards & honors

• 2024 Apostolos P. Stefanopoulos Book Prize