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In this study, we ask how and why do Members of Parliament adopt different representational styles? Looking at MPs in four Westminster-style democracies, we identify differences between MPs and inductively explore influences on representational styles by first using participant observation to gain deep insights into the activities of a small sample of MPs and then by using semi-structured interviews from a larger sample to elucidate findings from the observations across states. Our primary focus is the method of connection between representative and citizen, as fostered by the representative while present in the constituency. Despite similar institutional and electoral contexts across countries, we find a significant variation that is influenced by both country-level and constituency-level factors. Findings suggest a continuum from highly service-oriented to highly symbolic-oriented styles, where MPs from the UK illustrate the former, and MPs from Canada illustrate the latter, though with further variation at the constituency level that is based, in part, upon both geography and demographics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The comparably small scope of municipal politics creates a unique setting within which elected officials act as representatives. Here, we explore how mayors and councillors in Canadian cities do so by addressing and explaining variation in their representational style and focus. Across three studies, we explore how these elected officials allocate their time and aspire to allocate their time between different representational activities and who they attempt to represent. We do so using data from a new survey of Canadian mayors and councillors. Canadian mayors and councillors tend to prioritise policy representation over other types of representation and aspire to spend further time on policy-related matters. Further, mayors and councillors, despite some variation, tend to prioritise representation of their cities as wholes. A number of institutional and individual-level factors help to explain variation in these responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Service representation – the extent to which Members of Parliament (MPs) assist constituents with problems they have related to the government – is an increasingly important role of MPs in developed democracies. We explore the practice of service representation through comparison of the service orientations and activities of two MPs in different countries, New Zealand and Australia, observed during periods of participant observation with them in their electorates. Constructing service connections between MPs and their constituents is often a crucial aspect of MPs' overall representational styles. Our comparisons in this research depict the multi-dimensionality of service representation with respect to MPs' emphasis on service, the nature of their service activities, and in the factors that shape those activities. The democratic implications of our comparisons are also addressed. Deep exploration of only two cases is used in this research to develop theoretical understanding to inform future analysis of service representation and its increasing importance in the overall representational and democratic process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research note describes the Canadian Municipal Elections Database (CMED), a new publicly available and actively maintained dataset of more than 24,000 municipal elections in Canada. We describe the need for high-quality election results data for municipal politics research and describe the content, sources and construction of the CMED. To illustrate the value of the CMED, we estimate gender differences in municipal electoral performance for the first time, finding that women are, on average, more likely than men to win municipal elections in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has necessarily affected the operation of Canada's Parliament and, thus, the activities of Members of Parliament (MPs) (Malloy, 2020; Rayment and VandenBeukel, 2020). Here, we explore how the pandemic has affected the representational activities of individual MPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information about a conference held by the Canadian Study of Parliament Group (CSPG) in May 2015 is presented. The roundtable explored the parliamentary reform of procedure and practice in Canada. Presenters included Kelly Blidook, Jane Hilderman, Gary Levy, Jonathan Malloy, Jack Stilborn, and Paul Thomas.

In this article, we present the estimates of the party policy positions derived from two surveys: an expert survey and a voter survey, which were conducted in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador immediately prior to the October 2011 provincial election. The experts and the sample of voters were asked to situate the major political parties on eight policy dimensions and to rank the importance of each policy area. The results of the study present not only a map of party policy space and voter preference in Newfoundland and Labrador but also an indication of party policy awareness in the province. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Standing Order 31s are permitted 15 minutes of the House's floor time each day during which selected MPs can speak for a maximum of one minute each in order to draw attention to issues or events. These have often been used to congratulate groups or individual citizens, bring attention to a problem, or make a statement on a policy issue. Increasingly, they appear to have also been used to make negative statements about other parliamentary parties or leaders, or to praise the MPs' own party. The purpose of this article is to provide evidence of the changing nature of this venue toward partisan purposes, and to highlight the trends of change and party use of this venue in recent years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The systematic study of parliamentary questions, their strategic uses and their consequences remains largely unexplored by political scientists. Drawing on the wider theoretical literature on political roles and political representation, this research examines the relationship between parliamentary questions and political roles in Canada. Using data compiled from the 34th-37th Canadian federal parliaments, a negative binomial regression model of parliamentary question-asking demonstrates that Canadian Members of Parliament are both socialised into their roles and that they rationally adapt their behaviour to meet their political needs particularly with respect to electoral motivations. However, the empirical results emphasise rationally adapted behaviour more than role socialisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Canada, the decline of parliament and the dominance of the executive have received much scholarly attention. Meanwhile, the legislative and policy roles of Members of Parliament have generally been viewed as negligible. This study suggests that such roles may in fact be much more significant than previously believed, in part due to endogenous rule changes governing Private Members' Business over the past 25 years. Evidence is provided suggesting not only that MPs are generally more successful at getting legislation passed in recent years, but also that they appear to be able to influence government policy 'indirectly' through their participation in Private Members' Business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores concerns regarding media ownership in Canada from a "marketplace of ideas" perspective. It assesses evidence indicating whether the ideals associated with this perspective are threatened and proposes steps that seem best suited to achieving those broad ideals. It concludes that regulations limiting ownership levels by single corporations combined with relaxed foreign ownership controls would likely increase the range of choice and diversity of content in the news media. The latter, it also suggests, would allow regulators to more effectively enforce the ownership guidelines already in place for maintaining a vibrant and competitive media market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oral questions are a central feature of the Canadian parliamentary system, and a valuable indication of legislators' issue attentiveness. Here, we consider parties' behaviour in Question Period, with a particular interest in opposition parties' representation of the public's (and publics') issue priorities. We do so using a content analytic database of oral questions covering three Parliaments from 1988 to 1999. We begin with some descriptive analyses of the distribution of oral questions across issues and parties, and then explore what drives parties' attention to issues. Combining the oral questions database with public opinion data, we examine the relationship between the issue priorities of both parties and partisans. In doing so, we examine two different foci of representation: a generalized national constituency, and each party's partisan constituency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]