Blurred lines between electoral and parliamentary representation: The use of constituency staff among Members of the European Parliament

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Standard

Blurred lines between electoral and parliamentary representation : The use of constituency staff among Members of the European Parliament. / Hermansen, Silje Synnøve Lyder; Pegan, Andreja.

In: European Union Politics, Vol. 24, No. 2, 2023, p. 239-263.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Harvard

Hermansen, SSL & Pegan, A 2023, 'Blurred lines between electoral and parliamentary representation: The use of constituency staff among Members of the European Parliament', European Union Politics, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 239-263. https://doi.org/10.1177/14651165221149900

APA

Hermansen, S. S. L., & Pegan, A. (2023). Blurred lines between electoral and parliamentary representation: The use of constituency staff among Members of the European Parliament. European Union Politics, 24(2), 239-263. https://doi.org/10.1177/14651165221149900

Vancouver

Hermansen SSL, Pegan A. Blurred lines between electoral and parliamentary representation: The use of constituency staff among Members of the European Parliament. European Union Politics. 2023;24(2):239-263. https://doi.org/10.1177/14651165221149900

Author

Hermansen, Silje Synnøve Lyder ; Pegan, Andreja. / Blurred lines between electoral and parliamentary representation : The use of constituency staff among Members of the European Parliament. In: European Union Politics. 2023 ; Vol. 24, No. 2. pp. 239-263.

Bibtex

@article{4fbac1eb9652490b8a7aa9a89408768a,
title = "Blurred lines between electoral and parliamentary representation: The use of constituency staff among Members of the European Parliament",
abstract = "Parliamentarians receive public funding to employ local staff in the constituency. Local staff help members of parliament to execute their representative duties, but can also become an electoral asset. Drawing on theories of personal vote-seeking we study local staff as an example of constituency service. Modelling within-individual changes in local staff size among 1174 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), we find that the number of local staff increases before both European and national elections, and more so in candidate-centred than party-centred systems. Despite a single European Parliament (EP) staff system, EU citizens are represented differently depending on where they elect their members and the electoral system that applies. Attempts to mend the EU{\textquoteright}s democratic deficit by strengthening MEPs{\textquoteright} contacts with citizens through local staff potentially means that European public money is used to fund EP incumbents{\textquoteright} electoral campaigns. We discuss the implications of our findings for the democratic functioning of the European multi-level system.",
author = "Hermansen, {Silje Synn{\o}ve Lyder} and Andreja Pegan",
year = "2023",
doi = "10.1177/14651165221149900",
language = "English",
volume = "24",
pages = "239--263",
journal = "European Union Politics",
issn = "1465-1165",
publisher = "SAGE Publications",
number = "2",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Blurred lines between electoral and parliamentary representation

T2 - The use of constituency staff among Members of the European Parliament

AU - Hermansen, Silje Synnøve Lyder

AU - Pegan, Andreja

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Parliamentarians receive public funding to employ local staff in the constituency. Local staff help members of parliament to execute their representative duties, but can also become an electoral asset. Drawing on theories of personal vote-seeking we study local staff as an example of constituency service. Modelling within-individual changes in local staff size among 1174 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), we find that the number of local staff increases before both European and national elections, and more so in candidate-centred than party-centred systems. Despite a single European Parliament (EP) staff system, EU citizens are represented differently depending on where they elect their members and the electoral system that applies. Attempts to mend the EU’s democratic deficit by strengthening MEPs’ contacts with citizens through local staff potentially means that European public money is used to fund EP incumbents’ electoral campaigns. We discuss the implications of our findings for the democratic functioning of the European multi-level system.

AB - Parliamentarians receive public funding to employ local staff in the constituency. Local staff help members of parliament to execute their representative duties, but can also become an electoral asset. Drawing on theories of personal vote-seeking we study local staff as an example of constituency service. Modelling within-individual changes in local staff size among 1174 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), we find that the number of local staff increases before both European and national elections, and more so in candidate-centred than party-centred systems. Despite a single European Parliament (EP) staff system, EU citizens are represented differently depending on where they elect their members and the electoral system that applies. Attempts to mend the EU’s democratic deficit by strengthening MEPs’ contacts with citizens through local staff potentially means that European public money is used to fund EP incumbents’ electoral campaigns. We discuss the implications of our findings for the democratic functioning of the European multi-level system.

U2 - 10.1177/14651165221149900

DO - 10.1177/14651165221149900

M3 - Journal article

VL - 24

SP - 239

EP - 263

JO - European Union Politics

JF - European Union Politics

SN - 1465-1165

IS - 2

ER -

ID: 338780024