Constituency focus in a closed list proportional representation system: An analysis of parliamentary questions in the South African Parliament

Edalina Rodrigues Sanches (ICS-UL) e Yani Kartalis (Iscte-IUL)

Transmissão via Zoom (506220)

Abstract
What drives legislators’ constituency focus under closed list proportional representation (CLPR) systems? CLPR systems are said to offer fewer incentives for legislators to cultivate the personal vote and cater to district interests. We argue that legislators will have electoral and career-shaped predispositions to perform constituency-focused activities, as they seek to pursue their goals and satisfy their principals. Drawing on an original dataset of 20,293 questions submitted to the Parliament of South Africa between 2006 and 2022 and on legislators’ biographic data, we test three hypotheses, namely that more electorally vulnerable legislators, junior legislators, and those with prior political experience in the district will have more incentives to perform constituency based activities. Our results lend support to the hypotheses on electoral vulnerability and localness but run counter to most studies as we show that seniority fosters rather than diminishes constituency focus. These findings clarify the importance of individual level factors beyond institutional constraints. They also nuance existing studies that downplay the role of constituency service in party-controlled assemblies in Africa.