Whose Equality? Measuring group representation

Presence, of bodies and ideas, is often taken as the primary indicator of political equality and, hence, democratic health. Intersectionality and constructivism question the validity of measuring presence. Turning theory into practice, we propose a comparative reflexive design guided by two research questions: (1) Who are the groups? and (2) What are their problems? This reveals both prototypical and non-prototypical groups and interests, from the perspectives of politicians (from above) and citizens (from below). We suggest concrete qualitative and quantitative methodological strategies to study these questions empirically.