Party Anchorage in Multilevel States: The Selection of Representatives

Depending on the country, an MP may be legally bounded to represent her constituency or the entire territory. Nevertheless, there is a dual and conflicting relationship between the party representation, at the national level, and the other territorial tiers of government (the portion that elects a given MP). Besides these constraints, a representative can, however, serve the party in other ways and stations because there will be an additional level of career opportunities. Thus, we ask under which conditions is an MP candidate, coming from an autonomous region, more likely to maintain, go down or up her position in the lists when competing to the national parliament? We expect that MPs coming from the Portuguese regions (Madeira and Azores) are more likely to continue in the lists when compared to the MPs at the district level (mainland). Moreover, in the cases where a given MP leaves the lists, she will find a position at the regional state level. We test our hypothesis with new data from the Portuguese case.