Constituency Influence in Parliament

Soroka, Stuart and Penner, Erin and Blidook, Kelly (2009) Constituency Influence in Parliament. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 42 (3). pp. 563-591. ISSN 1744-9324

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Abstract

Dyadic representation has received considerable attention in the US, but much less attention in parliamentary systems where party discipline strongly limits representatives' capacity for individual action. A link between the legislative behaviour of representatives and the preferences of their geographic constituencies may nevertheless exist outside the US, however, particularly in single member plurality systems where the electoral connection is strong. This paper tests for evidence of this dyadic relationship in Question Period in the Canadian Parliament, across three policy domains: defense, debt and taxes, and welfare. As anticipated, there is evidence of dyadic representation in Canada. Results are discussed as they pertain to the comparative study of legislative institutions and political representation.

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