The political science literature suggests that increasing shares of representatives take a more individualized approach to politics even in traditional party democracies. According to Zittel and Gschwend (2008) campaigning is the most likely arena where this orientation plays out. Earlier work by the authors has indeed identified a considerable share of MPs who run individualized campaigns in Austria. Part and parcel of individualization is the building of individual constituency links. In this paper we take the analysis one step further into the parliamentary arena. For many reasons, individualized behaviour in parliament is much more difficult than in campaigns. Written parliamentary questions provide the most suitable instrument for Austrian MPs trying to develop a personal profile. Unlike other instruments, written questions require no supporting signatures by party colleagues, they are less subject to party scrutiny, and they are not subject to quota restrictions. At the same time, parliamentary questions provide a unique chance to bring up issues of immediate concern to the constituency and to do so regularly. Questions thus allow establishing an individual parliamentary record with a focus on their constituency. We combine data on individualization of campaigning and the focus of representation of elected MPs collected in candidate surveys with the MPs' activities in parliament. We expect MPs with high levels of individualized campaigning and a constituency focus of representation to exhibit a higher share of constituency-related parliamentary questions than their colleagues.
