Institutional- and Individual-Level Influences on Service Representation and Casework in Canadian Cities

Abstract

Service representation-the extent to which elected officials act as ombudsmen and engage in casework to assist their constituents with problems-is a crucial aspect of contemporary democratic representation. The local level of government is a potentially fruitful location in which to explore the practice of service representation. Despite this, service representation in local governments is understudied. Using data from interviews with 52 sitting councillors and a survey of 589 sitting councillors in Canadian cities, this article explores both the commitment of councillors to service and influences on time committed to service. This research finds that service representation is an important but secondary role of Canadian councillors. Furthermore, councillors elected in wards commit more time to service than councillors elected at-large, and councillors with strong service role perceptions also commit more time to service.

Scrutiny and policymaking in local councils: how parties use council tools

“…Scholars have relied heavily on self-reported behaviour and perceptions of other local actors. This has given some insight into local councillors' workload and how much time they spend on various activities such as council meetings, desk work, party summits and meetings with citizens (Egner 2015;Koop 2016;Thrasher et al 2015). Several qualitative studies based on interviews with, mainly British, local politicians have also added to our current knowledge on local councillors, e.g., on the experiences of councillors in leadership positions and their views on various aspects of the role and work of local council (Bochel and Bochel 2010) and the relationship between councillor's public and private lives (Barren, Crawley, and Wood 1991).…”

Political Ambition and Constituent Service: Does Ambition Influence How Local Officials Respond to Electoral and Non-Electoral Service Requests?

“…As mentioned above, the study of how ambition affects representation has focused almost entirely on the behavior of elected representatives in the policy making sphere (e.g., Francis and Kenny, 1996; Herrick & Moore, 1993; Hibbing, 1986; Maestas, 2003). In this paper, we follow a more recent but also important development in the literature that investigates the responsiveness of representatives to service requests (e.g., Butler & Broockman, 2011; Dropp & Peskowitz, 2012; Grose et al, 2015) and their communications with constituents (e.g., Butler et al, 2012; Hassell & Monson, 2016; Koop, 2016). While this literature has focused on the nature and frequency of elected officials’ responsiveness to service requests, none of these recent works have examined the relationship between responsiveness and progressive political ambition.…”

“…Policy provision through constituency services is essential to elected officials' job. At the local level, elected officials are often tasked with formulating and implementing policy and also answering constituent questions about that implementation (Clingermayer & Feiock, 1994;Koop, 2016;Oliver et al, 2012;Welch & Bledsoe, 1988). 1 Moreover, policy provision through constituency service affects political careers (Fenno, 1978;Grose, 2011) and is crucial to democratic representation (Clingermayer & Feiock, 1994;Grose, 2011;Hall, 1996;Oliver et al, 2012;Welch & Bledsoe, 1988).…”

Influences on the Number and Gender of Candidates in Canadian Local Elections

“…Canadians elect councillors in ward, at-large or mixed systems (see, for example, Koop, 2016). The influence of institutional factors on the number of candidates that run is gendered.…”