Constituency Activity and Representational Roles among Australian Legislators

Abstract

The link between elected representatives' views of their role and the type and extent of their constituency activity is central to political representation, yet it has remained largely unexplored. This article partially fills this gap by examining the link between Australian legislators' views of their representative role and their constituency work, and by evaluating the conjoint influence of these two factors on the vote. The data come from a national survey of Australian federal legislators conducted in 1993. The results show that legislators have clearly distinguishable representative foci resembling the triad of imperative mandate/free mandate/party, and that these views are significant in determining how legislators relate to their constituency and the vote they attract. Contrary to findings in other polities, dealing with constituents' grievances reduces a legislator's vote, mainly because such activity displaces other, more electorally advantageous, party-focused activities.