Low-cost policy specialisation, district characteristics and gender. Patterns of committee assignment in Romania

Abstract

Committee assignment can influence the efficiency of legislative work, the success of parties in reaching their policy goals and even the electoral fates of individual legislators. Nevertheless, little is known about this process in the legislatures established in the Central and Eastern European democracies. These legislatures faced severe informational, electoral and partisan challenges which raised the stakes of efficient committee-seat allocation. Simultaneously, most parliaments in the region were endowed with strong committees. The Romanian Parliament is representative for this combination of conditions. Drawing on a dataset that covers the careers, sector knowledge, partisan and electoral attributes of all the members serving in five terms of the Chamber of Deputies the article shows that committee assignment is used to facilitate low-cost policy specialization, district characteristics matter for gaining seats in committees with distributive potentials, while female legislators are confined to committees dealing with feminised policy areas.

The Determinants of Committee Membership in Belgium and the Netherlands

“…Lastly, the analysis tested an effect of gender on being assigned to low-saliency committees, as was shown by several studies from diverse settings (Chiru, 2019;Espírito-Santo & Sanches, 2020;Goodwin et al, 2020). Such patterns are not visible in the results of the two analysed parliaments.…”

“…This article contributes to the literature that analyses how, within parliaments of parliamentary democracies, who is selected to sit on which committees and with what consequences. Previous studies have suggested a range of factors that explain the process, such as electoral rules and constituency demands, particularly in committees that allow MPs to cater to the interests of voters (Chiru, 2019;Gschwend & Zittel, 2018;Raymond & Holt, 2018;Raymond & Juárez, 2019). MPs' expertise in a committee's jurisdiction was linked to assignments in many institutional contexts (Chiru, 2019;Giannetti, Pedrazzani & Pinto, 2019;Mickler, 2018aMickler, , 2019.…”

“…Previous studies have suggested a range of factors that explain the process, such as electoral rules and constituency demands, particularly in committees that allow MPs to cater to the interests of voters (Chiru, 2019;Gschwend & Zittel, 2018;Raymond & Holt, 2018;Raymond & Juárez, 2019). MPs' expertise in a committee's jurisdiction was linked to assignments in many institutional contexts (Chiru, 2019;Giannetti, Pedrazzani & Pinto, 2019;Mickler, 2018aMickler, , 2019. Female MPs were shown to be overrepresented in committees that deal with 'feminised' or low-status policy areas (Baekgaard & Kjaer, 2012;Chiru, 2019;Espírito-Santo & Sanches, 2020;Goodwin, Holden Bates & McKay, 2020;Murray & Sénac, 2018;Pansardi & Vercesi, 2017), although there is an ongoing debate on whether this is the result of self-selection or discrimination.…”

“…MPs' expertise in a committee's jurisdiction was linked to assignments in many institutional contexts (Chiru, 2019;Giannetti, Pedrazzani & Pinto, 2019;Mickler, 2018aMickler, , 2019. Female MPs were shown to be overrepresented in committees that deal with 'feminised' or low-status policy areas (Baekgaard & Kjaer, 2012;Chiru, 2019;Espírito-Santo & Sanches, 2020;Goodwin, Holden Bates & McKay, 2020;Murray & Sénac, 2018;Pansardi & Vercesi, 2017), although there is an ongoing debate on whether this is the result of self-selection or discrimination. Additionally, the 'structuring' hand of the PPG leadership was demonstrated in some studies (Giannetti et al, 2019).…”

Presidencias de comisión e institucionalización de la Cámara de Diputados en México (1997-2018)

“…Si bien la teoría informativa ha sido eficaz para explicar la institucionalización del trabajo parlamentario en asambleas que promueven la profesionalización temática de sus integrantes, aún se conoce muy poco sobre cómo operan sus preceptos en aquellas legislaturas que no cuentan con elementos fundamentales de institucionalización, como altos índices de reelección y reglas que recompensen la experiencia previa de los legisladores con cargos de gobierno congresional (para algunas excepciones véanse Santos y Rennó, 2004;Crisp et al, 2009;Oñate y Ortega, 2019;Chiru, 2019).…”