MPs Go Back to Their Constituencies

GAY, OONAGH

doi:10.1111/j.1467-923x.2005.00656.x

Cited by 22 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…And, although until recently it was relatively rare to find UK MPs engaging much with their constituency – each MP represented a constituency but the task of ‘representation’ was conceived largely in Westminster‐based terms (Norton and Wood, 1993) – after 1960, there was a rise in constituency activity by MPs, with MPs more likely to spend time in the constituency or doing work for the constituency (Cain et al ., 1987; Gay, 2005; Norton, 1994; 2002). MPs today work the parish pump hard: one survey of the 2005 intake of MPs found that they spent more than half of their time working in, on or for the constituency (Rosenblatt, 2006).…”

Section: The Local Dimensionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Politics of Local Presence: Is there a Case for Descriptive Representation?

Childs

Cowley

2011

Political Studies

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The case for greater descriptive representation of groups such as women and ethnic minorities has become widely, though not wholly, accepted in much of the academic literature and in the ‘real world’ of politics in most advanced democracies. In the UK the goal of greater descriptive representation of women has often become framed as a zero‐sum game against men, especially local men, with consequences for the descriptive representation of women. This article examines whether claims made for the descriptive representation of women and black candidates can and should apply to local candidates, whatever their sex or race. It draws a distinction between the representation of a territory (common to most representative systems) and the representation of a territory by someone from that territory, a similar distinction to the difference common in the gender and politics literature between the representation of women by an elected representative and the representation of women by women representatives. The article also distinguishes between a hard and a soft form of this argument. The latter applies to almost every constituency in the UK, but it is a claim not based on arguments for the presence of the disadvantaged. However, the case for a local candidate to represent a more disadvantaged constituency, the harder form of the argument, can be made on almost all of the criteria applied to other excluded groups identified in the politics of presence literature.

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Section: The Local Dimensionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Politics of Local Presence: Is there a Case for Descriptive Representation?

Childs

Cowley

2011

Political Studies

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“…Yet it is clear that MPs spend a great deal of time addressing constituent concerns (Cain, Ferejohn and Fiorina 1987; Norris 1997; Gay 2005). Prior research indicates that members believe that constituent service provides electoral benefits.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sponsoring Early Day Motions in the British House of Commons as a Response to Electoral Vulnerability

Kellermann¹

2013

PSRM

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While the importance of individual candidates in British elections has long been minimized, this article argues that early day motions (EDMs)—formal, non-binding expressions of opinion—allow backbench MPs to cultivate reputations with constituents. First, this article demonstrates that greater sponsorship of EDMs is associated with better electoral outcomes, which suggests that EDMs could help vulnerable MPs improve their electoral prospects. Secondly, a Bayesian hierarchical negative binomial hurdle model, which accounts for specific features of EDM sponsorship and is novel in political science, shows that members from electorally competitive constituencies are more likely to introduce EDMs, and introduce them more often, than members from less competitive constituencies. Moreover, this relationship has increased over the past 20 years.

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“…Such "generosity" is corroborated in research on constituency service (for a review, see Hofstetter 2016) and in opinion pieces where government workers debate the role of the MP (e.g. Gay 2005). MPs often complain about the hours of constituency service (Loat and MacMillan 2014) yet continue to perform services even when it is outside their jurisdiction (Siefken 2014: 10).…”

Section: The Constituency Officementioning

confidence: 93%

Getting service at the constituency office: Analyzing citizens’ encounters with their Member of Parliament

Hofstetter

Stokoe

2018

Text &Amp; Talk

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In this paper, we present an analysis of how constituents procure services at the constituency office of a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom. This paper will investigate how several previously documented interactional practices (e.g. entitlement) combine at the constituency office in a way that secures service. From a corpus of 12.5 hours of interaction, and using conversation analysis, we examine constituents’ telephone calls and meetings with constituency office staff and the MP, identifying practices constituents use. First, constituents opened encounters with bids to tell narratives. Second, constituents presented lengthy and detailed descriptions of their difficulties. These descriptions gave space to manage issues of legitimacy and entitlement, while simultaneously recruiting assistance. Third, we examine ways in which constituents display uncertainty about how the institution of the constituency office functions, and what services are available. The paper offers original insights into how constituency services are provided, and how constituency offices give access and support to ordinary citizens, while expanding the conversation analytic literature on institutional service provision.

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MPs Go Back to Their Constituencies

Cited by 22 publications

References 4 publications

The Politics of Local Presence: Is there a Case for Descriptive Representation?

The Politics of Local Presence: Is there a Case for Descriptive Representation?

Sponsoring Early Day Motions in the British House of Commons as a Response to Electoral Vulnerability

Getting service at the constituency office: Analyzing citizens’ encounters with their Member of Parliament

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