The Mexican quarterly FOLIOS dedicated its 2009 issue “Political Representation and Democracy: Between Hope and Disenchantment,” to the current debate on representation and democracy. This issue was edited by Isaac Preciado, a doctoral student in the Political Science department of The New School. As the title suggests, the articles included in this issue analyze the current debates on political representation and its impact on democracy and accountability.

The contributors to this edition include young fellow scholars, many from The New School, who touch on different aspects of this debate. The journal begins with an introductory article by Isaac Preciado that traces the theoretical and historical evolution of  political representation. Victoria Crespo, doctoral student of the Sociology and History departments at The New School for Social Research, discusses the role of the presidency as it relates to actual presidents and political representation. Jorge Romero, studying in The New School’s Political Science department contributed the article titled, “Representation and Civil Society, Transparency and Accountability in the New Democracies,” which discusses a new model to understand citizens participation in public life.

For those who are interested, the articles (in Spanish) are available at: www.ieej.org.mx.