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Edmund Burke argued for something called "virtual representation", which meant that an elected official did NOT represent the people who elected him, but in fact represented the nation as a whole as best he understood. These means that when voting, he should use his own judgment, and not simply vote as the people who elected him would want. On the one hand, these seems absurd, because if a representative doesn’t represent the people who vote for him, what is the point of democracy in the first place? Burke sort of agreed with this, being a kind of elitist and conservative who didn’t really believe in direct democracy. On the other hand though, in many cases it is obviously true that an elector can’t represent the local interests only. In Burke’s own speech defending himself, he was defending his vote against putting tariffs on Irish goods that would protect business in his home region. Since he thought he represented Ireland (part of Great Britain at that time) as well as Bristol, he couldn’t vote for it out of pure local interest (he lost the next election, they didn’t like this it turns out).

Ironically, while he was using it to support Irish interests, his concept of “virtual representation” was the main argument used by the English to say that actual representation wasn’t needed for the Irish or the American colonists. They could simply trust that the British representatives would have their best interest at heart. Burke did not agree with this application of it, since the British members of parliament didn’t share common interests with the colonists or Catholic Irish. The Irish and Americans didn’t like the idea of “virtual representation” either, it turns out, hence the revolutions.

Edmund Burke argued for something called "virtual representation", which meant that an elected official did NOT represent the people who elected him, but in fact represented the nation as a whole as best he understood. These means that when voting, he should use his own judgment, and not simply vote as the people who elected him would want. On the one hand, these seems absurd, because if a representative doesn’t represent the people who vote for him, what is the point of democracy in the first place? Burke sort of agreed with this, being a kind of elitist and conservative who didn’t really believe in direct democracy. On the other hand though, in many cases it is obviously true that an elector can’t represent the local interests only. In Burke’s own speech defending himself, he was defending his vote against putting tariffs on Irish goods that would protect business in his home region. Since he thought he represented Ireland (part of Great Britain at that time) as well as Bristol, he couldn’t vote for it out of pure local interest (he lost the next election, they didn’t like this it turns out).

Ironically, while he was using it to support Irish interests, his concept of “virtual representation” was the main argument used by the English to say that actual representation wasn’t needed for the Irish or the American colonists. They could simply trust that the British representatives would have their best interest at heart. Burke did not agree with this application of it, since the British members of parliament didn’t share common interests with the colonists or Catholic Irish. The Irish and Americans didn’t like the idea of “virtual representation” either, it turns out, hence the revolutions.