Legislatures, legitimacy and crises: the relationship between representation and crisis management

This article presents a theoretical argument that the study of representation can yield important insights for crisis analysts. The argument is presented through a claim that the representative systems, legislatures and individuals of a state - defined here broadly as ‘representative institutions’ - should be factored into political analyses of crisis management, as they provide a lens for novel explorations of crisis issues. In particular, the use of parliamentary perspectives, and the examination of specific legislature functions during crises, can lead to valuable insights about the legitimacy dynamics that characterise political crisis episodes.