The hidden electoral connection: analysing parliamentary questions in the Chilean Congress |
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Authors: | Eduardo Alemán Juan Pablo Micozzi Margarita M Ramírez |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Political Science, University of Houston, Houston, USA;2. Department of Political Science, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), Mexico City, Mexico |
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Abstract: | Legislators in presidential countries use a variety of mechanisms to advance their electoral careers and connect with relevant constituents. The most frequently studied activities are bill initiation, co-sponsoring, and legislative speeches. In this paper, the authors examine legislators’ information requests (i.e. parliamentary questions) to the government, which have been studied in some parliamentary countries but remain largely unscrutinised in presidential countries. The authors focus on the case of Chile – where strong and cohesive national parties coexist with electoral incentives that emphasise the personal vote – to examine the links between party responsiveness and legislators’ efforts to connect with their electoral constituencies. Making use of a new database of parliamentary questions and a comprehensive sample of geographical references, the authors examine how legislators use this mechanism to forge connections with voters, and find that targeted activities tend to increase as a function of electoral insecurity and progressive ambition. |
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Keywords: | Parliamentary questions progressive ambition personal vote legislators Chile |
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