This article introduces conceptual tools to understand the affective dimensions of representation, presenting ‘affective correspondence’ as an evaluative measure. The way a representative is affected by and affects others, in ways similar to those they represent, is critical to the possibility for descriptive/symbolic representation to achieve substantive representation. When this ‘affective alignment’ cannot be achieved, ‘affective receptivity’—that is an openness to being moved and affected by one's constituents—can enhance responsiveness to underrepresented groups. I argue that representatives belonging to dominant groups—in Australia white, middle-class, cis men—are less likely to achieve affective receptivity when compared with representatives who are positioned within intersecting structures of discrimination and disadvantage. The article hence underscores the necessity of a political class that reflects the broader population it serves (by gender, race, class, (dis)ability, sexuality and so on), and highlights the dangers of overrepresentation by privileged minorities.

本文介绍了理解表征的情感维度的概念工具，将“情感对应”作为一种评估措施。代表以类似于他们所代表的方式受到他人影响和影响的方式对于描述性/象征性代表实现实质性代表的可能性至关重要。当这种“情感对齐”无法实现时，“情感接受性”——即对被自己的选民感动和影响的开放态度——可以增强对代表性不足的群体的反应。我认为，与处于歧视和劣势交叉结构中的代表相比，属于占主导地位的群体的代表——在澳大利亚的白人、中产阶级、顺式男性——不太可能获得情感接受。