Is Personal Vote‐Seeking Behavior Effective?

• DOI: 10.1111/lsq.12119
• Publication Date: 2016-04-25T06:24:31Z
• Authors: Thomas Däubler; Thomas Bräuninger; Martin Brunner
• Keywords: Contingent vote

Does representatives' legislative activity have any effect on their electoral performance? A broad theoretical literature suggests so, but real‐world evidence is scarce as empirically, personal and party votes are hard to separate. In this article, we examine whether bill initiation actually helps MPs attract preference under flexible list systems. these systems, voters can accept the party‐provided rank order or vote for specific candidates, which allows a clear distinction between votes. The empirical analysis uses data by Belgian in period 2003–2007 explain 2007 elections. We find that particularly single‐authored proposals initiated shortly before upcoming elections associated with larger vote.