Role-Switching in the Dutch Parliament: Reinvigorating Role Theory?

Abstract

The lack of explanatory power of roles in the study of legislative behaviour has led to questioning of the utility of role theory. The problem may be that scholars tend to focus on classifying legislators according to one role orientation, thereby running the risk of oversimplification. Using questions from the 1990, 2001 and 2006 Dutch Parliamentary Studies, this study explores whether MPs specialise in a particular role or switch between roles depending on the situation at hand. A general trend towards specialisation in the partisan role is detected, accompanied by a decrease in the number of role-switching MPs. Furthermore, it is found that whereas government MPs tend to specialise in the role of the parliamentarian, opposition MPs are more prone to put on their partisan hats.

Position, Preference and Personality: A Microlevel Explanation of Negativity in Day‐To‐Day Politics

“…In addition to their formal position, representatives can chose to take on preference roles. These are informal roles which are “much less constrained by institutions and therefore may be shaped by the motivations and preferences of the MPs themselves” (Vonno, , p. 121). In the following paragraphs, I discuss two preference roles that I expect to be related to negative politics, and I apply the concepts of “incentive structure” and “availability for party activity” from the previous section to these roles.…”

Political elites’ media responsiveness and their individual political goals: A study of national politicians in Belgium

“…In this paper, the MPs who focus mainly on the first goal—engaging in party politics—are called ’party warriors’. In a recent study about legislative roles, Van Vonno (2012) describes these MPs as being in ‘interparty mode’, viewing politics as an ideological struggle between parties. Party warriors play the ‘attack and defense game’.…”

“…Those MPs who consider policy making to be their priority are different from ‘party warriors’. In line with Searing (1987) and Van Vonno (2012), they are called ‘policy advocates’ here. These MPs take up governing-related tasks in their parties; realizing policy goals is crucial to them.…”

Parliamentary questions as strategic party tools

“…MPs are not so much independent agents seeking to advance their own agenda, but rather they are their party's representative on a specific policy portfolio (Louwerse and Otjes 2015). They are essentially party delegates (Andeweg and Thomassen 2011;Mickler 2017: 188;Van Vonno 2012). Within these parties MPs are embedded within internal organisations.…”