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Electoral Context and MP Constituency Focus in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom

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  • Valerie Heitshusen
  • Garry Young
  • David M. Wood

Abstract

The job description for legislators in western democracies includes constituency‐focused activities such as casework and district visits. Unfortunately we have a limited theoretical and empirical understanding of the factors affecting legislators' constituency‐oriented activities, in large part because most studies focus on single nations; even studies that are comparative do not span a variety of electoral systems. In this article we examine the constituency focus of MPs in six chambers that do provide such variance: the Australian House and Senate, Canadian House, Irish Dáil, New Zealand House, and the British House of Commons. We find that electoral considerations and incentives provided by different electoral systems, as well as other factors, affect the priority that MPs place on constituency service.

Suggested Citation

  • Valerie Heitshusen & Garry Young & David M. Wood, 2005. "Electoral Context and MP Constituency Focus in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 49(1), pages 32-45, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:amposc:v:49:y:2005:i:1:p:32-45
    DOI: 10.1111/j.0092-5853.2005.00108.x
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    1. Tomz, Michael & Wittenberg, Jason & King, Gary, 2003. "Clarify: Software for Interpreting and Presenting Statistical Results," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 8(i01).
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    Cited by:

    1. Mihail Chiru, 2018. "Cheap Talk or Proper Signaling? Styles of Campaigning and Engagement in Constituency Service," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 99(1), pages 283-295, March.
    2. Heinrich, Tobias & Kobayashi, Yoshiharu & Bryant, Kristin A., 2016. "Public Opinion and Foreign Aid Cuts in Economic Crises," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 66-79.
    3. Mansbridge, Jane, 2017. "Recursive Representation in the Representative System," Working Paper Series rwp17-045, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    4. Christopher Jan Carman, 2006. "Public Preferences for Parliamentary Representation in the UK: An Overlooked Link?," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 54(1), pages 103-122, March.
    5. Zoltán Fazekas & Martin Ejnar Hansen, 2022. "Incentives for non-participation: absence in the United Kingdom House of Commons, 1997–2015," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 191(1), pages 51-73, April.
    6. Olle Folke & Johanna Rickne, 2020. "Who wins preference votes? An analysis of party loyalty, ideology, and accountability to voters," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 32(1), pages 11-35, January.

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