A historian of philosophy and political thought, the author uses an original but clear style to explain the meaning of representation - a notion which is often rather difficult to understand. He shows how, for the most part, modern and contemporary political thought centres around this concept and is often in controversy with it. By dealing with the representation of both individual and collective rights, the fundamental importance of representation during the 19th century and the present-day crisis of representative bodies such as Parliament as well as the representative role of political parties, the attempts to create a direct democracy and the present challenges of globalisation, this notion is shown to be the point around which the theoretical and institutional views concerning contemporary democracy circle.

Bruno Accarino teaches History of Political Doctrine at the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy of Florence University.