Animal protection and legislators in Britain and the United States

This article considers the reaction of legislators to the emergence of animal protection as a political issue. A quantitative analysis of legislative behaviour in the House of Commons and the House of Representatives in the late 1980s and early 1990s reveals (mainly through the identification of a small but significant group of legislators willing to promote concern for animal welfare) that the growing societal concern for animals has permeated into the political institutions of Britain and the United States. Examining the characteristics of these legislators suggests, moreover, that the most significant variable is party label, with concern for animals being associated with parties of the centre‐left. It is further suggested that there are good reasons to suppose that this association is no accident and that ideologically, there is a fit between animal protection and the ideals of the left.