Abstract
The notion of Representation is a key feature in democratic regimes. More stable than the direct participation of the people into political life, it supposes that the institutions of the State reflect the composition and the wishes of the people. A simple look at the title of the book-the Leviathan-is however intriguing. How could a Leviathan-previously known as the sea monster of the book of Job whose powers cannot be restrained by any man- be representative? Isn't the act of Representation the opposite of the absolutism advocated by Hobbes -understood as the concentration of powers in one's hands? The Leviathan; or The Matter, Form, and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiastical and Civil (1651), exposes Hobbes' doctrine of sovereignty and introduces for the first time the concept of representation to describe the relation between the sovereign and the citizens. We will examine it through a triple prism: Representation in its etymological meaning ("repraesentare" = the act of making something present); Representation as the way of grasping a reality by perception (Representation is here a synonym of image) and Representation as an activity, i.e. the way the sovereign reflects the people's wishes and concerns. What is the significance of the Leviathan and of the process of representation in the construction of Hobbes' theory of political power?
