Going Local: Parliamentary Questions as a Means of Territorial Representation in the Italian Parliament

Abstract

Parliamentary questions are often employed by Members of Parliament to demonstrate their responsiveness to the needs of the constituency. This article takes advantage from this opportunity to study the determinants shaping the constituency focus of Italian deputies. Previous research has shown that the degree to which Members of Parliament devote attention to their geographical district depends on several factors related to electoral incentives, demands coming from citizens and taste-based preferences. By studying the behaviour of Italian deputies elected in three legislative terms with a system giving few incentives to perform constituency service, this article offers new evidence that non-electoral reasons are important to shape the role played by Members of Parliament.

Geographical Representation Under a Single Nationwide District: The Case of the Netherlands

“…Recent empirical research confirms that MPs also pay attention to regional matters for other reasons than electoral incentives alone (Kellermann 2016; Martin 2011; Russo 2011, 2021; Zittel, Nyhuis, and Baumann 2019). Russo (2021) found that in Italy the personal background and political experience of an MP are associated with territorial representation.…”

“…Recent empirical research confirms that MPs also pay attention to regional matters for other reasons than electoral incentives alone (Kellermann 2016; Martin 2011; Russo 2011, 2021; Zittel, Nyhuis, and Baumann 2019). Russo (2021) found that in Italy the personal background and political experience of an MP are associated with territorial representation. If an MP is elected in a district to which they have stronger ties—for example being born and raised there—the MP is more likely to defend the interest of that district by asking questions about their district (also see Russo 2011).…”

“…Geographical representation is almost always studied in the context of local constituencies (e.g., Fernandes, Won, and Martins 2020; Martin 2011; Russo 2021). MPs pay attention to their local area because they rely on local constituents for their reelection (Carey and Shugart 1995; Kellermann 2016), but previous research also suggests that geographical representation is not purely driven by these local electoral incentives (Martin 2011; Zittel, Nyhuis, and Baumann 2019).…”

The Electoral Connection Revisited: Introduction to the Special Issue

“…In so doing, the articles are highly complementary as they allow for studying political processes related to the personal vote across the legislative and the electoral arenas. Thus, while Arter (2021) illustrates how candidate selection districts influence campaigning, intra-party competition and the ability of politicians to win votes, Russo (2021) and Chiru (2021) focus on how candidate selection attributes make legislators allocate more or less time to constituency service. Similarly, Poyet (2021) and Papp (2020) devote significant attention to understanding how issue salience interacts with district pressures in the two arenas.…”

“…Federico Russo (2021) analyses the determinants of territorial representation in Italy in the wake of an electoral reform that went in a de-personalizing direction: the 2005 abolition of Single Member Districts and the introduction of Closed List PR with high district magnitude. The author draws on parliamentary question data from three legislative terms (2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016)(2017)(2018) and shows that even under an electoral system providing such low personal vote-seeking incentives, Italian legislators still devoted remarkable resources to territorial representation.…”