The Listening Ear. Understanding Listening in the Context of Political Representation from the Perspective of Politicians and Citizens
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2024-08-15
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en
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During the late 1980s and early 1990s, political parties in the Netherlands perceived representative crisis. In this context, the Dutch labour party (PvdA) thought of the Listening Ear action to listen to the needs ands concerns of ordinary people directly - without the intermediary of journalists, pollsters or the ballot box – to bridge the perceived representative divide. By distributing leaflets doubling as postcards, the party invited the electorate to write them their thoughts and opinions on the party and politics. This research provides new insights into how ideas about political representation were expressed in the Netherlands around 1990. With the Listening Ear action, the PvdA propagated many new representative claims, presenting itself as a responsive party. Many responses also brought their own ‘representative claims’ to the fore, expressing, implicitly or explicitly, how they imagined the party could or should represent them.
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