Rediscovering Parliaments: Studying Legislatures and Legislators in Representative Democracies

In representative democracies, parliaments are the main decision-making body and the critical institution for democratic representation. Parliamentarians constitute the connection between the electorate and the government. Moreover, they crucially shape policy outcomes and democratic processes. However, due to a general increase in disenchantment with political institutions and the growing success of populist parties, parliaments have recently come under pressure. This Section investigates legislatures as institutions and as an arena shaping the behaviour of legislators and political parties. The Section includes Panels studying the dynamics between parliament and the executive, methodological innovation in legislative research, and the role of parliaments in preventing democratic backsliding. Moreover, one Panel is designated to political representation, and three more examine legislative behaviour, the social media use of MPs, and the careers of parliamentarians and candidates. The final Panel focuses on studying supra-national and sub-national parliaments. Section Chairs welcome theoretical as well as empirical Papers from all methodological approaches. Panels 1. Executive-Legislative Relations Chair: Flemming Juul Christiansen Discussant: Svenja Krauss The relationship between government and parliament plays a crucial role in the law-making process and crucially shapes the behaviour of parliamentary actors. Delegation and accountability affect the members of the executive as well as the legislative, and leads, potentially, to agency loss. Especially in parliamentary systems, both institutions are, however, significantly intertwined. This Panel will shed light on the relationship between parliament and government and the effects on the actors, i.e., MPs, parties, and ministers. We welcome Papers exploring this relationship in settings outside Western Europe and the US.   2. Legislators and social media Chair: Laura Chaqués-Bonafont Discussant: Clint Claessen Social media platforms have become a central part of modern societies and can shape the public agenda. Besides traditional parliamentary tools, legislators can use social media to engage with constituents, party activists or the parliamentary leadership. Moreover, legislators use social media to increase their information sources and promote transparency and accessibility. This Panel welcomes Papers engaging theoretically, empirically and/or methodologically on how legislators use social media and how social media has changed legislative activities. 3. Parliaments and democratic backsliding Chair: Olivier Rozenberg Discussant: Zsófia Papp Democratic backsliding refers to a series of political changes that lead to a departure from democratic norms. This has become a significant issue facing mature democracies globally. Parliaments, as institutions, play a crucial role in either enabling or preventing democratic backsliding. This Panel welcomes contributions studying the role of legislatures and legislators in promoting, preventing, or responding to democratic backsliding. It also welcomes studies on parliamentary monitoring, legislative reforms, or the impact of populist and extremist parties in parliament on democratic processes. For example, how can government erode the counterbalancing power of legislatures? How do legislators react to the expansion of the executive? How does the population respond to legislators breaking democratic norms? We welcome Papers studying both historical and contemporary cases. 4. Legislative representation Chair: Sarah Dingler Discussant: Daniel Höhmann Representation and responsiveness are crucial for the functioning of representative democracies. Parliaments play a vital role in the political process regarding the representation of citizens as well as the political responsiveness of the relevant actors. This Panel seeks to investigate the role of legislatures regarding democratic representation. For example, how do legislators represent their constituents? Notably, we are also interested in the representation of political minorities such as women, migrants, and ethnic minorities. Moreover, the Panel explores how institutional factors such as the electoral system or intra-party institutions shape legislators’ preferences and the context in which they operate. 5. Methodological innovations in legislative research Chair: Maria Thürk Discussant: Ulrich Sieberer Increasingly, we see more methodological diversity and exciting advances in studying parliaments and legislative behaviour. This Panel is interested in Papers that either apply or discuss innovative methods in studying legislative institutions. These may include text-as-data techniques that utilise the increasing availability of digital records of parliamentary activities and the actions of MPs on social media. Additionally, new methods that approach issues of representation and decision-making in unique ways, such as experiments, analysis of voting-advice applications, or network analysis, will also be considered. 6. Candidates and Legislative Careers Chair: Stefanie Bailer Discussant: Javier Martínez-Cantó The purpose of this Panel is to study the political careers of parliamentarians and candidates and the campaigns of parliamentary candidates. We want to understand the factors contributing to a candidate being elected to a parliamentary office, how these factors influence their legislative and non-legislative actions, and which pathways lead to gaining parliamentary offices. Moreover, we are interested in exploring career patterns in various institutional contexts. This Panel also seeks Papers on selecting candidates and the impact on parliamentary activities. 7. Legislative Behaviour: MPs and Parties Chair and Discussant: David Willumsen One of the primary responsibilities of a legislature is to enact laws, so understanding how legislative outcomes are influenced is a crucial aspect of legislative activity. This Panel examines the role and actions of various parliamentary actors, such as parliamentary groups, backbenchers, ministers, and committee chairs, in the legislative process. We want to understand the factors that drive the legislative behaviour and the effects of their actions. 8. Parliaments in multi-level systems Chair: Simon Otjes Discussant: Martin Gross Legislative processes as well as the behaviour of legislators are often studied at the national level. Nonetheless, there is a growing interest in understanding legislative actors in supra-national or sub-national legislatures. This Panel seeks to gather Papers studying the interaction between different legislative arenas and institutions. Moreover, we are interested in how the legislative foci of representatives changes at different institutional arenas.