Representatives

Representatives are individuals chosen or appointed to act on behalf of others. The term applies across political, legal, and intellectual contexts and can denote people who speak for a group as well as symbolic forms that stand for something else.

In political systems, representatives participate in legislatures and governments to voice constituents' interests, draft and vote on laws, and oversee administration. In representative democracies, citizens elect representatives in periodic elections. Representatives may serve as delegates who mirror voters' preferences or as trustees who exercise their own judgment; many systems blend these roles. They are expected to be accountable to those they represent and may face removal through elections or other procedures.

Electoral methods determine how representatives are chosen. Common approaches include single-member districts with plurality, proportional representation, and mixed systems. Some bodies include appointed or indirect representatives, and rules vary by constitution and law.

Outside politics, representation describes models or surrogates that stand in for other objects or concepts. In mathematics and computer science, for example, a representation encodes data or structures; in law, agents and attorneys represent clients.

The idea of representation is central to debates about legitimacy, diversity, and accountability in governance, including questions about how closely elected bodies reflect the populations they serve.