Parliamentary Activity, Re-Selection and the Personal Vote. Evidence from Flexible-List Systems

0500305 - SOÚ 2019 RIV GB eng J - Článek v odborném periodiku
Däubler, T. - Christensen, L. - Linek, Lukáš
Parliamentary Activity, Re-Selection and the Personal Vote. Evidence from Flexible-List Systems.
Parliamentary Affairs. Roč. 71, č. 4 (2018), s. 930-949. ISSN 0031-2290. E-ISSN 1460-2482
Grant CEP: GA ČR GA16-04885S
Institucionální podpora: RVO:68378025
Klíčová slova: candidate selection * personal vote * flexible-list system
Obor OECD: Political science
Impakt faktor: 1.798, rok: 2018
https://academic.oup.com/pa/article-abstract/71/4/930/4831463

The paper analyzes how the degree of parliamentary activity affects both individual MPs’ performance in the candidate selection process within the party and their popularity with voters at the electoral stage. It is expected that parliamentary work of MPs matters less for voters’ evaluations of MPs because of limited monitoring capacities and lower salience attached to this type of representation. The empirical analysis uses data from recent elections in the Czech Republic and Sweden. During the analyzed period, these countries further personalized their flexible list electoral systems. The results suggest that parties hold MPs accountable mainly through the threat of non-re-selection rather than by assigning them to a promising list position. While there is no evidence that voters consistently reward MPs’ effort, the case of the Czech elections in 2010 shows that they may do so if context draws attention to individual MPs’ work.
Trvalý link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0292403