The Effects of Electoral Systems on Legislator-Constituency Relations: A Five Country Study

这项研究系统地考察了五个国家，以确定选举安排对立法者面向选区的活动的影响。立法者参与面向选民的行动是代表的一个关键因素，与更普遍研究的以政策为基础的代表是分开的。有证据表明，所有立法机构的成员都参与了某种形式的面向选民的活动。不幸的是，除了美国国会之外，对此类活动及其原因的分析还很少。比较跨国考察立法者与立法者之间关系的研究则更为罕见。因此，不存在基于因果关系的、理论上丰富的对立法者与选民关系的理解。通过比较五个选举制度明显不同的国家，这项调查产生了一个数据库，使人们有可能进一步了解这一点。该项目有助于更好地了解代表制的性质以及选举安排在影响席位和选票分配之外所发挥的作用。这项研究涉及对澳大利亚、加拿大、爱尔兰、新西兰和英国的国家立法者的个人采访。接受采访的是四个两院议会下院和新西兰一院制议会唯一议院的50-60名议员。抽样是为了大致了解每个立法机构中立法者的人口特征。此外，调查还邮寄到每个立法机构所代表的每个地区。这些调查针对的是处理宪法问题并补充访谈数据的高级工作人员。还收集了其他类型的补充数据(主要是选举数据)。这项研究产生了丰富的数据集，对于有兴趣解决立法者以选民为导向的行动的差异的一些潜在解释的学者来说是有用的。此外，该数据集还有助于分析选区活动与现任选举命运之间的联系(例如，个人选票总数)。

This research systematically examines five nations to determine the influence of electoral arrangements on legislators' constituency-oriented activity/. Legislator involvement in constituency-oriented actions constitutes a key element of representation separate from more commonly studied policy-based representation. Evidence suggests that members of all legislatures engage in some form of constituency-oriented activity. Unfortunately, analyses of such activities, and their causes, are sparse for legislatures other than the U.S. Congress. Rarer still are studies that examine legislator-constituent relations comparatively across nations. Consequently, a causal-based, theoretically rich understanding of legislator-constituent relations does not exist. By comparing five nations with markedly different electoral systems, this investigation produces a database making advancement towards such an understanding possible. The project contributes to a greater understanding of the nature of representation and the role electoral arrangements play beyond influencing seat and vote distributions. The study involves personal interviews with national legislators in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Interviewed are 50-60 legislators in each of the lower houses of the four bicameral parliaments and in the only chamber of New Zealand's unicameral Parliament. Samples are drawn in order to approximate the features of the population of legislators in each legislative body. Additionally, surveys are mailed to each district represented in each legislature. These surveys are directed at senior staff who deal with constituent issues and supplement the interview data. Other types of supplementary data (mainly electoral) are also gathered. This study yields a rich dataset useful for scholars interested in addressing a number of potential explanations for variation in legislator's constituency-oriented actions. Additionally, the dataset is useful for analyzing the linkage between constituency activity and incumbent electoral fortunes (e.g., personal vote totals).