Povijest pojma predstavništva. Elementi za izgradnju moderne teorije političkog predstavništva II.
History of the Concept of Representation. Elements for the Construction of the Modern Theory of Political Representation II.

Summary/Abstract: The authors of this text consider the third form of representation developed in the medieval doctrine of corporation, the so-called identity or pars pro toto representation. It concerns a relationship in which a part of the corporation – council, assembly, or some members – is considered identical to the whole body of the corporation in terms of its activity. The main purpose of identity representation is to mediate the idea of legal unity of corporation with the multitude of its members or parts of which it consists: by the act of representation different parts of the corporation form its legal unity at the moment of reaching decisions. Unlike in agency representation, the position of the representative is thus not the consequence of authorisation or of the transfer of power of action by those represented: the representative and the represented are not two separate legal entities; rather, it is considered that with the action of its “elevated” part, the corporation acts by itself. The text presents three fundamental subtypes of identity representation: Marsilius of Padua’s valentior pars, rendering majority decisions on issues concerning the corporation as a whole, and a permanent representative body. Special attention is given to the Conciliar Movement in which identity representation played an important part, and to the first association of representation through identity with the idea of authorisation in the thought of Nicholas of Cues. The text looks into estate assemblies of German Länder (provinces) in the period prior to the French Revolution as an example of historic institutionalisation of identity representation.

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