Is there a Demand for Descriptive Representation? Evidence from the UK’s Devolution Programme Paul Chaney and Ralph Fevre Cardiff University Descriptive representation occurs when elected politicians are typical of the larger class of persons that they represent, such that blacks represent blacks, disabled people represent disabled people and so on. Research undertaken in the context of the UK government’s devolution programme helps us to judge the strength of the demand for descriptive representation amongst political activists and elites. In the case of women, one grouping where proportional descriptive represen- tation has (almost) been achieved, substantial benefits are perceived, for example in relation to improvements in the deliberative function of democracy. In the case of other ‘minority’ groupings the absence of descriptive representation is thought to have entailed significant costs. This failure has necessitated the development of complex bureaucratic structures that are seen as a poor sub- stitute for descriptive representation. In this and other respects the innovations in governance introduced with devolution have helped to stimulate demand for descriptive representation. This demand exceeds the supply of representation on offer and descriptive representation will be the focus of an increasing amount of debate and controversy in future. There are systematic patterns of under-representation in the decision-making struc- tures of democratic countries in respect of women, ethnic minorities, people who define themselves as disabled and groups defined by faith, sexual orientation and other significant markers of social identity. There is, however, no consensus that under-representation is such a severe problem that root-and-branch reform is required in order to correct it. While much has been written about the philosophy and ethics of under-representation, and the reforms that may be required to elim- inate it, our understanding of the demand for reform is limited. UK research and commentary indicates that some members of under-represented groups feel mar- ginalised and believe they are the targets of discrimination intended to exclude them from decision-making (Campbell and Oliver, 1996; Coote, 2000; Saggar, 1998; T. Phillips, 2000) but our knowledge of the way these sentiments translate into a demand for fundamental reforms is patchy. At a time when a new statutory framework 1 is being introduced to further the descriptive representation of women in the UK’s legislatures, this paper will show that the demand for fundamental change amongst the elites of some important under-represented groups has grown as a consequence of the reforms introduced with devolution. Some of these individuals make their demands as members of political parties, particularly as activists and politicians. Others demand change as leaders of organised civil society. Many of the pressures to which politicians will have to respond originate in wider social movements that have spawned some of the bodies of civil society. In other cases quite specific interest groups have become POLITICAL STUDIES: 2002 VOL 50, 897–915 © Political Studies Association, 2002. Published by Blackwell Publishing, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA