Participants Full Conference Problematic Democratic nation states in the late twentieth century all claim to offer equal access to political representation to all citizens, regardless of gender, race, sexuality, class, or religion.
All adults can vote and all adults can run for elective office.
Empirical investigation reveals, however, that despite the principle of equal political opportunity, certain groups are radically under-represented in legislative bodies. Women, while composing over half the population, have no more than a token presence in most national assemblies. There are also few racial minorities and gay men and lesbians in governing bodies. In parallel, perhaps, members of these groups often seem to have distinctive voting behavior. Theorists preoccupied with questions of racial justice have discussed the implications of slavery and emancipation, on the one hand, and colonialism and post-colonial social and political relations, on the other, for the inclusion of people of color as full citizens.