Virtual Representation

Virtual Representation

In the early stages of the American Revolution, colonists in the Thirteen Colonies rejected legislation imposed upon them by the Parliament of Great Britain because the colonies were not represented in Parliament. According to the British constitution, colonists argued, taxes could be levied on British subjects only with their consent. Because the colonists were represented only in their provincial assemblies, they said, only those legislatures could levy taxes in the colonies. This concept was famously expressed as "No taxation without representation."

George Grenville defended all the taxes by arguing that the colonists were virtually represented in Parliament, a position that had critics on both sides of the Atlantic. Virtual representation stated that the members of Parliament spoke for the interests of all British subjects rather than for the interests of only the district that elected them. William Pitt, a defender of colonial rights, ridiculed virtual representation, calling it "the most contemptible idea that ever entered into the head of a man; it does not deserve serious refutation." Parliament rejected criticism of the concept, and passed the Declaratory Act in 1766, asserting the right of Parliament to legislate for the colonies "all cases whatsoever." It remains unclear whether the doctrine of virtual representation is in conflict with the institution of Parliament itself (if it so be that there is no reasonable measure of actual representation of all British subjects assembled in Westminster), in so far as the English legal concept or self-recognition of 'Parliament' is determined by and evolved into being on the basis of the participation of representatives historically deemed to bear significance across the social spectrum of the monarch's realms. Though this representation was initially deemed as economically necessary enough for the participation of English clerics, lords, knights and burgesses, it could, by the time of the emergence of the British Empire, be argued to include colonists and overseas territorial subjects, and later, women, on the grounds of the founding rationales of Parliament laid down in the Magna Carta and by Edward I in his 'Model Parliament' writs of summons - the equity of a participation by actual representatives elected by those with a stake in the country being governed. The erosion of virtual representation was therefore subject to the extension of the citizen's right to vote for actual representation, a matter the British constitution appears to be flexible upon.

At the time of the American Revolution, only England and Wales and Scotland were directly represented in the Parliament of Great Britain among the many parts of the British Empire. Great Britain itself was severely malapportioned with large cities like Manchester only represented by the larger counties they were part of, but so-called rotten and pocket boroughs like Old Sarum sent delegates to Parliament until the Reform Act 1832. The Act of Union 1800 expanded direct representation to Ireland (as the Parliament of Ireland and that of Great Britain were merged into the Parliament of the United Kingdom), but despite the efforts of the Imperial Federation League the Parliamentary franchise (and so representation) was not extended further. As of 2012, the remaining British overseas territories and Crown Dependencies are not represented in the UK Parliament, but they are largely self-governing with their own legislatures (such as the States of Jersey or the House of Keys). Although Parliament retains supreme lawmaking authority for the overseas territories and Crown Dependencies, this is seldom used. Parliament does not tax them or have any control over their tax policies.