From Many, One

Elizabeth Maggie Penn
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Elizabeth Maggie Penn: Harvard University, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA, epenn@latte.harvard.edu

Journal of Theoretical Politics, 2009, vol. 21, issue 3, 343-364

Abstract: I present a formal model of the effect of political representation on the formation of group identities using the drafting of the United States Constitution as a case study. I first show the presence of `factions', or groups with competing interests, to be beneficial in forging a national identity. Next, I use this model to argue that the Great Compromise succeeded as more than a political maneuver to ensure ratification of the Constitution; it created a political environment in which an American national identity could emerge. I find that representation schemes that ignore group distinctions and use the individual as the basic unit of political representation may induce individuals to embrace a group-based notion of identity. Conversely, acknowledging group distinctions by using the group as a unit of political representation may induce individuals to embrace a more universalistic conception of identity, and thus may make group distinctions less salient.

Keywords: endogenous identities; federalism; Great Compromise; representation; valence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:jothpo:v:21:y:2009:i:3:p:343-364

DOI: 10.1177/0951629809103967

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