Reserved Seats and Representation of Minority Groups

Reserved seats in politics (where a number of job positions are allocated to individuals from minority groups) has brought up public debate as to their success and their opposition to a merit based system (one where jobs are allocated to those considered most suitable based on ability and experience).

A friend of mine suggested that instead of reserving seats in politics, seats need to be reserved in primary school, high school and university, so that people from lower classes can succeed in a merit based system  upon graduation. Assuming they would reach a position where they could succeed, I wonder if upon taking a representative position they may no longer be particularly representative of the group. Having lived different experiences and having had a more privileged life with greater access to opportunities, it is likely that they would have a different perspective and possibly also different interest and opinions to the group, thereby creating distance between themselves and the group they should be representing. This brings to front the question explored in the criticism following Diane Bell's article in which she speaks for Indigenous Australians: who can speak for who?

Such a method would also fail to take into account possible prejudices based on, for example ethnicity or gender that are present within institutions and which could create further hurdles on the path to a representative position.

Reserved seating sidesteps these problems to an extent. Perspective is important for a representative as "...members of structurally differentiated groups often have different understandings of the causes of the problems and conflicts and the possible effects of proposed solutions." (Young 2000, p. 145) Without having the perspective of the group, the representative may fail to understand the specific problems of that group. Reserved seating can also ensure representatives won't be selected with ethnic or cultural bias. However that brings us to the question "...who has the right to choose those representatives" (Young 2000, p. 50)? And furthermore, how can someone create a guideline for selecting a representative on the transient guidelines of interest, opinion and perspective?

I believe that reserving seats should be continued as a tactic of increasing representation of minority groups in politics, however I'd like to explore further the ways in which representatives are selected.