Exploring the Role of ‘Legislators’ in Canada: Do Members of Parliament Influence Policy?

Blidook, Kelly

doi:10.1080/13572330903541979

Cited by 20 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The “normative principle” of constituency influence is built into SMP electoral systems, after all. And while it is true that in parliamentary systems legislation necessarily comes out of cabinet, there exist parliamentary venues in which individual MPs can have an effect on legislative deliberations, and possibly an effect on legislative outcomes (or other policy outcomes; see Blidook, N.d.). In a country with an SMP electoral system (such as Canada), and a parliamentary venue in which representatives have at least some freedom in their legislative behaviour (such as Question Period), limited dyadic representation seems possible, and even likely.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constituency Influence in Parliament

2009

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This paper examines relationships between constituency characteristics and individual legislators' behaviour in a parliamentary system. This kind of "dyadic" representation has received considerable attention in the US, particularly with the study of roll call voting. Outside the US, however, the study of individual representatives' behaviour has been more difficult. In many cases, information on individuals' behaviour has been difficult to attain; moreover, in many countries there are relatively few observable policy venues in which individual legislators have an opportunity for anything other than toeing the party line. We are very grateful to Denise Ledoux, Peter Niemczak, and others at the Library of Parliament, who provided much of the necessary data on MPs and electoral outcomes as well as valuable commentary at an early presentation of these data. We are also indebted to Lori Young, Iris Simixhiu, MarieJosée Bouffard, Michelle Meyer, and Zach Finkelstein, the principal coders on the project; to Keith Banting, Jenny Hunt, Jim Kelly, Jack Sandberg, and Arthur Sweetman for comments on previous versions; and to the Hons. Warren Allmand, Bill Blaikie, Ed Broadbent, Joe Clark, Peter Milliken, and Senator Gerald Comeau, each of whom was kind enough to share with us some of their knowledge of Parliament and Question Period.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constituency Influence in Parliament

2009

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“…Prior to 2004, a parliamentary committee exercised significant control over which members’ proposals would be deemed “votable” and thus eligible for debate, consideration, and passage (Blidook ). However, a new system was adopted in the 37 th Parliament (2000–2004) in which all eligible members were placed in a lottery that dictated the order in which MPs appeared on the “Order of Precedence,” a document that determines when legislators have the opportunity to bring their legislation to the floor for debate and a vote by the full Parliament.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Natural Experiment in Proposal Power and Electoral Success

Loewen

Koop

Settle

et al. 2013

American J Political Sci

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D emocratic theory is contingent on the notion that representatives should take action on behalf of their constituents and that citizens can use elections to reward or punish legislators for the actions taken on their behalf (Downs 1957;Riker 1982). Yet, measuring the effects of legislator action on subsequent voter behavior has proven to be a thorny problem for legislative scholars.At the root of this problem is measuring the causal effect of legislative action. Observational studies preclude us from separating the effect of legislating from other characteristics of the individual legislator or political system that may confound the independent effect of introducing legislation. Without being able to separate the independent effect of legislative action from other possible explanations of electoral viability, we cannot be certain

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“…Endogenous rule changes can, and have in the past, been undertaken to remedy “professional” problems (Cox 2000; Squire 1992). For example, in the Canadian case, the legislature adjusted rules for Private Members' Business which has increased the potential policy influence of individual MPs (Blidook 2010), while former Prime Minister Paul Martin adjusted confidence rules to permit more free votes (Aucoin and Turnbull 2003).…”

Section: Theory and Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

It's Not You, It's Me: Determinants of Voluntary Legislative Turnover in Canada

Kerby

Blidook

2011

Legislative Studies Qtrly

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The Canadian federal parliament is unique among Westminster parliamentary democracies due to the unusually high level of voluntary and involuntary MP turnover that occurs at each general election. This article builds on existing research to test the hypothesis that the MP career duration is related to MPs' expectations about parliamentary roles, insofar as voluntary turnover is concerned. Data on MPs drawn from historical records collected by the Library of Parliament and from surveys conducted in 1993 and 20011 are used to develop an event history model which estimates the hazard of voluntary career termination when different parliamentary roles are taken into consideration. Findings suggest that a number of individual factors play a role in voluntary turnover, most notably that MPs who enter Parliament hoping to affect policy are the most likely to move on.

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Exploring the Role of ‘Legislators’ in Canada: Do Members of Parliament Influence Policy?

Cited by 20 publications

References 12 publications

Constituency Influence in Parliament

Constituency Influence in Parliament

A Natural Experiment in Proposal Power and Electoral Success

It's Not You, It's Me: Determinants of Voluntary Legislative Turnover in Canada

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