A key question in representation is how institutional settings bring about particular representational roles among legislators. In this regard, the strategic dilemma that representatives face of whether to represent all people in the district equally or, alternatively, to prioritize some area within the district, has been vastly understudied. Using innovative survey data collected in 12 European democracies, we demonstrate that a striking number of legislators favour representing the interests of their home town over the district as a whole and that the number of representatives elected by the district critically impacts their choice as to whom to represent. As district magnitude increases, an increasing number of legislators will not cater to district opinion but will prioritize the interests of a geographical sub-constituency. These findings have important implications for the study of political representation, challenging the conventional wisdom that – compared to single-seat districts – proportional representation tends not to provide geographical representation.
AmesBarry (1995) Electoral Strategy under Open-List Proportional Representation. American Journal of Political Science39(2): 406–433.
2.
AndréAudreyDepauwSam (2013) District Magnitude and Home Styles of Representation in European Democracies. West European Politics36(5): 986–1006.
3.
AndréAudreyDepauwSamDeschouwerKris (2014a) Legislators’ Local Roots: Disentangling the effect of district magnitude. Party Politics20(6): 904–917.
4.
AndréAudreyDepauwSamShugartMatthew S (2014b) The Effect of Electoral Institutions on Legislative Behavior. In ShaneMartinSaalfeldThomasStrømKaare (eds) Oxford Handbook of Legislative Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 231–249.
5.
BawnKathleenThiesMichael F (2003) A Comparative Theory of Electoral Incentives Representing the Unorganized Under PR, Plurality and Mixed-Member Electoral Systems. Journal of Theoretical Politics15(1): 5–32.
6.
BishinBenjamin G (2009) Tyranny of the Minority: The Subconstituency Politics Theory of Representation. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
7.
BishopBill (2008) The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of like-Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
8.
BogdanorVernon (1985) Representatives of the People? Parliamentarians and Constituents in Western Democracies. Aldershot: Gower.
9.
CainBruce EFerejohnJohn AFiorinaMorris P (1987) The Personal Vote: Constituency Service and Electoral Independence. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
10.
CampbellRosieCowleyPhilip (2014) What Voters Want: Reactions to candidate characteristics in a survey experiment. Political Studies62(4): 745–765.
11.
CareyJohn MShugartMatthew S (1995) Incentives to Cultivate a Personal Vote: A rank ordering of electoral formulas. Electoral Studies14(4): 417–439.
12.
CartyR Kenneth (1983) Electoral Politics in Ireland: Party and Parish Pump. Dingle: Brandon.
13.
ChiruMihailEnyediZsolt (2015) Choosing Your Own Boss: Variations of representation foci in mixed electoral systems. Journal of Legislative Studies21(4): 495–514.
14.
CoxGary W (1997) Making Votes Count: Strategic Coordination in the World’s Electoral Systems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
15.
CrispBrian FDesposatoScott W (2004) Constituency Building in Multimember Districts: Collusion or conflict?Journal of Politics66(1): 136–156.
16.
DeschouwerKrisDepauwSamAndréAudrey (2014) Representing the People in Parliaments. In DeschouwerKrisDepauwSam (eds) Representing the People: A Survey among Members of Statewide and Sub-State Parliaments. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1–18.
17.
EsaiassonPeter (2000) How MPs Define Their Task. In EsaiassonPeterHeidarKnut (eds) Beyond Westminster and Congress: The Nordic Experience. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 51–82.
18.
FennoRichard F (1978) Home Style: House Members in Their Districts. Boston, MA: Longman.
19.
GallagherMichaelMarshMichael (1988) Candidate Selection in Comparative Perspective: The Secret Garden of Politics. London: SAGE Publications.
20.
GimpelJames GKarnesKimberly AMcTagueJohnPearson-MerkowitzShanna (2008) Distance-Decay in the Political Geography of Friends-and-Neighbors Voting. Political Geography27(2): 231–252.
21.
GimpelJames GLeeFrances EThorpeRebecca U (2011) The Wellsprings of Candidate Emergence: Geographic origins of statewide candidacies in the United States. Political Geography30(1): 25–37.
22.
GóreckiMaciej AMarshMichael (2012) Not Just ‘Friends and Neighbours’: Canvassing, geographic proximity and voter choice. European Journal of Political Research51(5): 563–582.
23.
GóreckiMaciej AMarshMichael (2014) A Decline of ‘Friends and Neighbours Voting’ in Ireland? Local candidate effects in the 2011 Irish ‘Earthquake Election’. Political Geography41: 11–20.
24.
GrofmanBernard (2005) Comparisons among Electoral Systems: Distinguishing between localism and candidate-centered politics. Electoral Studies24(4): 735–740.
25.
HeitshusenValerieYoungGarryWoodDavid M (2005) Electoral Context and MP Constituency Focus in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. American Journal of Political Science49(1): 32–45.
26.
JewellMalcolm E (1982) Representation in State Legislatures. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky.
27.
KatzRichard S (1986) Intraparty Preference Voting. In GrofmanBernardLijphartArend (eds) Electoral Laws and Their Political Consequences. New York: Agathon Press, 85–103.
28.
LatnerMichaelMcGannAnthony (2005) Geographical Representation under Proportional Representation: The cases of Israel and the Netherlands. Electoral Studies24(4): 709–734.
29.
LundbergThomas C (2007) Proportional Representation and the Constituency Role in Britain. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
30.
MüllerWolfgang CSaalfeldThomas (1997) Members of Parliament in Western Europe: Roles and Behaviour. London: Frank Cass.
31.
MyersonRoger B (1993) Incentives to Cultivate Favored Minorities Under Alternative Electoral Systems. American Political Science Review87(4): 856–869.
32.
NavarroJulien (2013) Le Cumul des Mandats: Une comparaison Européenne. In FrançoisAbelNavarroJulien (eds) Le Cumul des Mandats en France: Causes et Conséquences. Bruxelles: Editions de l’Université de Bruxelles, 117–132.
33.
NemotoKuniakiShugartMatthew S (2013) Localism and Coordination under Three Different Electoral Systems: The national district of the Japanese House of Councillors. Electoral Studies32(1): 1–12.
34.
ParkerAnthony J (1982) The ‘Friends and Neighbours’ Voting Effect in the Galway West Constituency. Political Geography Quarterly1(3): 243–262.
35.
PatzeltWerner J (2007) The Constituency Roles of MPs at the Federal and Länder Levels in Germany. Regional & Federal Studies17(1): 47–70.
36.
RehfeldAndrew (2005) The Concept of Constituency: Political Representation, Democratic Legitimacy, and Institutional Design. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
37.
RichardsonLilliard EFreemanPatricia K (1995) Gender Differences in Constituency Service Among State Legislators. Political Research Quarterly48(1): 169–179.
38.
SacksPaul M (1970) Bailiwicks, Locality, and Religion: Three elements in an Irish dail constituency election. Economic and Social Review1(4): 531–554.
39.
SearingDonald (1994) Westminster’s World: Understanding Political Roles. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
40.
ShugartMatthew SValdiniMelody EllisSuominenKati (2005) Looking for Locals: Voter information demands and personal vote-earning attributes of legislators under proportional representation. American Journal of Political Science49(2): 437–449.
41.
SinnottRichard (1995) Irish Voters Decide: Voting Behaviour in Elections and Referendums since 1918. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
42.
ThomassenJacquesEsaiassonPeter (2006) Role Orientations of Members of Parliament. Acta Politica41(3): 217–231.
43.
WeßelsBernhard (1999) Whom to Represent? Role orientations of legislators in Europe. In: SchmittHermannThomassenJacques JA (eds) Political Representation and Legitimacy in the European Union. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 209–234.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
