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.

With its empirical focus on the South, this book takes its point of departure in the movement for liberalization and democratization that characterised the 1980s and 1990s

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