The standard account has four main features.First, representation is understood as a principal agent relationship, in which the principals—constituencies formed on a territorial basis—elect agents to stand for and act on their interests and opinions, thus separating the sources of legitimate power from those who exercise that power. Second, electoral representation identifies a space within which the sovereignty of the people is identified with state power. Third, electoral mechanisms ensure some measure of responsiveness to the people by representatives and political parties who speak and act in their name. Finally, the universal franchise endows electoral representation with an important element of political equality. The complexities of the principal-agent relationship at the core of the standard account are well recognized (Pitkin 1967). The translation of votes into representation, for example, is mediated by varying electoral systems with more or less exclusionary characteristics.Parties, interest groups, and corporatist organizations set agendas, while public spheres, civil society advocacy, and the media form preferences and mold public opinion,as do debate and leadership within legislative bodies themselves (Habermas 1989). In addition,the principal-agent relationship between voters and representatives is notoriously difficult to maintain, for numerous reasons ranging from information deficits to the corruption of representative relationships (Bobbio1987, Gargarella 1998).