Political Representation | PD Dr. Martin Gross, Geschwister-Scholl-Institute for Political Science, Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich and Dr. Constantin Wurthmann, GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, lead the research project "Population-side Representation Perceptions in the German Multi-level System".

Political representation is a central task of democratic systems of government. Democracies must continuously work on shaping democratic representation in a way that adequately considers the population's goals and preferences. While in the past, the debate was mainly about which parties and politicians are best able to represent the population's interests, the debate has now changed. Increasingly, the question is raised whether certain groups, such as workers, can better represent their class's interests and how this impacts democratic governance. The project aims to investigate this assumption by analysing the ideas and desires for representation of the population in Bavaria and Hesse in the context of the 2023 state elections. In doing so, it examines whether there are differences in the ideas at the municipal, state and federal levels. The central question is: "What are citizens' ideas about political representation in the German multi-level system and their impact on political behaviour?" To answer this question, data is collected and analysed within a study representative of the German online population.