Role Orientations of Members of Parliament
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Role Orientations of Members of Parliament Jacques Thomassena and Peter Esaiassonb a
Universiteit Twente, Faculteit BBT, Postbus 217, 7500AE Enschede, The Netherlands. E-mail: [email protected] b Go¨teborgs Universitet, Spra¨ngkullsgatan 19, Box 711, SE-405 30 Go¨teborg, Sweden. E-mail: [email protected]
To what extent would a change of the Dutch electoral system, strengthening the bond between individual Members of Parliament (MPs) and specific constituencies, improve the quality of political representation, and increase the legitimacy of the political system in the process? In order to answer this question, we make a distinction between policy representation and specific interest representation. We expect that variations in the electoral system will have an effect on specific interest representation but not on policy representation. Findings from international comparative research suggest that this is the case indeed, but only for territorially defined interests, not for functionally defined interests. Close contact between MPs and their constituents might increase people’s trust in politicians. However, this does not necessarily mean that it also leads to an increase of the legitimacy of parliament and the parliamentary system. Acta Politica (2006) 41, 217–231. doi:10.1057/palgrave.ap.5500157 Keywords: role orientations; members of parliament; electoral systems
Introduction Critics of the Dutch electoral system often emphasize the lack of a bond between individual Members of Parliament (MPs) and a specific constituency. Under the current system, MPs can hide behind the back of the party leader and live an anonymous political life without being personally accountable to a specific electorate. Considering this, a change of the electoral system in the direction of strengthening the bond between individual MPs and specific constituencies should improve the quality of political representation, and increase the legitimacy of the political system in the process. There are at least two reasons why a strengthened link between individual MPs and specific constituencies should improve the quality of political representation (Norton, 2002). The first relates to the citizen. MPs are, or have the potential to be, a vital link between citizens and government. They may ensure that the views of citizens, individually and grouped together in organizations, are heard by government. They may also serve as agents in pursuing grievances on behalf of citizens.
Jacques Thomassen and Peter Esaiasson Role Orientations of Members of Parliament
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The second argument in favour of strengthening the link relates to the political system. MPs collectively fulfil the function of general representation. Within many western European countries, parliamentarians appear not to be fulfilling that task to the satisfaction of electors. Political institutions in recent years have suffered from a decline in popular support (Dalton, 2004). The argument here is that by being more active on behalf of constituents, MPs may help to rest
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