Representation in the Constituency: Policy, Service and Symbolic Connection-Building in Uncertain Times

Representation in the Constituency: Policy, Service and Symbolic Connection-Building in Uncertain Times Members of Parliament (MPs) in Australia and other established democracies work long hours in their electorates assisting constituents with service problems and meeting with community and interest groups. Despite these increased workloads, feelings that parties and politicians are disconnected from everyday people are widespread. While some explanations for these feelings rest on the ‘demand side’ of critical citizens and a scandal focused media, in this paper I examine the ‘supply’ side of contemporary representative practice. I investigate how MPs go about the important job of connecting constituents to the representative system in the context of disconnection and uncertainty and disruption caused by Covid-19 and other disasters. Existing studies of constituency work in Australia have been concentrated at the federal rather than state level and lacking in detailed information on the logics and practices which guide this work more broadly. In this paper, I discuss the findings of research conducted from 2019-2021 on the policy, service, symbolic and partisan connections built by MPs in their electorates. I draw upon 36 interviews with representatives from three levels of government in Queensland, as well as a nationwide survey of 111 MPs from every state and territory. I build upon work on representative connection building in North America to answer the questions of how MPs approach this part of their role in times of uncertainty and distrust of formal institutions and the strengths and limitations of this work to address the public’s sense of disconnection. I find MPs engaged in work which brings them into frequent contact with citizens, which is essential for the functioning of contemporary democracy, and which holds the promise of bringing citizens closer to the representative system. However, MPs this work is more heavily structured by the increasing demands of service delivery and attempts to demonstrate they’re ‘not like other politicians’ rather than opportunities for engaging those they represent in proactive political transformation.