Is All Politics Indeed Local? A Comparative Study of Dual Mandate‐Holders’ Role Attitudes and Behaviours in Parliament

Abstract

The practice of dual mandate‐holding, i.e. the simultaneous occupation of a political mandate at the (sub)national and the local level, is understudied in the comparative literature. Dual mandate‐holders embody the most direct link between local and central government, yet research has disregarded whether these actors actually feel and act as local ambassadors in parliament. In this article, we study whether councillors in parliament feel responsive for local grievances in terms of their respective role attitudes and behaviour, using the PARTIREP Comparative MP Survey. The estimated regression models demonstrate that dual mandate‐holders indeed perceive themselves as local brokers, even when controlling for various systemic‐, party‐ and individual‐level factors. On the other hand, they struggle to translate their localized attitudes into localized parliamentary behaviour, which could call one of the main arguments in favour of dual mandate‐holding into question.

Less is more or the more the merrier? Analysing attitudes towards multiple‐mandate holding among local officeholders

“…We consider our results to further add to other recent scholarships about multiple-mandate holding in Europe (see Van de Voorde & de Vet, 2020), which have largely concentrated on a handful of Francophone countries, and in the Nordics more specifically (see Arter & Söderlund, 2023), by focusing on explaining attitudes towards the practice among political actors themselves. This is a perspective that has been largely lacking in previous scholarships, and we consider our study to contribute to filling that void.…”

“…An overview of the bulk of previous scholarships shows that there is a lacuna in the literature regarding the important issue on how political actors themselves look upon the practice of multiple‐mandate holding. Previous studies have primarily examined the (role) perceptions and attitudes among multiple‐mandate holders themselves (Van de Voorde & de Vet, 2020), although studies on the attitudes towards this practice among politicians, in general, are scarce and mainly hint at scepticism (Meire et al, 2002). Examining attitudes towards multiple‐mandate holding among political actors in more detail could potentially provide us with another piece in the puzzle to explain why this practice becomes prevalent in some systems.…”

The Effects of Import Shocks, Electoral Institutions, and Radical Party Competition on Legislator Ideology: Evidence from France

“…Until 2017, French senators were permitted to hold ‘dual mandates’ wherein they simultaneously served in the legislature while also holding directly elected local political offices 8 . Research suggests legislators holding dual mandates have strong incentives to represent local interests (Bach et al 2012; Costa and Kerrouche 2009; Page and Goldsmith 2016) and are more likely to feel connected to local grievances (Van de Voorde and de Vet 2020). 9 Concerns with the consequences of globalization, driven by senators' strong local ties, are encapsulated in the words of former senator, Francis Grignon: Offshoring, deindustrialization, globalization … the decline of France, the economic take-off of China … As senators, the constitutional representatives of the territories who are in many instances also holders of local mandates, we are frequently confronted with the economic difficulties and the human tragedies resulting from the closing of a factory.…”

How local personal vote-earning attributes affect the aggregate party vote share: Evidence from the Belgian flexible-list PR system (2003–2014)

“…Other scholars which analysed Belgium in its entirety show that the importance of local roots also holds for other Belgian regions. Together with France, Belgium has the highest share of MPs holding local office simultaneously, which shows that local roots are considered a crucial asset for political careers in the entire country (Van de Voorde and de Vet, 2017). At the same time, this can hardly be perceived as Belgian exceptionalism, as multiple office-holders in the parliaments of Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, and Austria also range between 20% and 60% (Van de Voorde and de Vet, 2017).…”

“…Together with France, Belgium has the highest share of MPs holding local office simultaneously, which shows that local roots are considered a crucial asset for political careers in the entire country (Van de Voorde and de Vet, 2017). At the same time, this can hardly be perceived as Belgian exceptionalism, as multiple office-holders in the parliaments of Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, and Austria also range between 20% and 60% (Van de Voorde and de Vet, 2017). Moreover, practically all election candidates in Belgium run for parliamentary office in the district where they live (De Winter, 1997).…”