Right from its beginning representative democracy was criticized for promoting inequality. Nonetheless, for many decades representative democracy has led to more equality - politically as well as socially. Meanwhile, in most western societies this has dramatically changed.
Trying to understand this change, the paper will first identify the immanent egalitarian tendencies in modern democratic representation. I will argue that not only universal franchise, but, paradoxically, also the distinction between society and the stage of political representation have had strong egalitarian effects. I will continue to demonstrate that the development from party- to audience-democracy together with the rise of non-electoral modes of participation transformed the performative and configurative functions of political representation. With the ensuing shift from generalized interests to issues and images new sources of political marginalization and social inequality have come to the fore.
