In a broad sense, a mandate is any form of commission from a third party. In a political context, it implies a central theme of the modern discourse on parliamentarianism, namely the binding of the elected deputy to the will of the electorate. The problem dates back to the instructing of delegates to the late medieval estates assemblies (Estates, assembly of) and the scope of their entitlement to negotiate. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, the problem of the mandate acquired a new dimension with the ongoing democratization of society, changes in the understanding of representation, t…