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Political Representation in France and Germany pp 59–85Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Parliament Centered or Constituency Centered? The Professionalization of the Parliamentary Mandate

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Part of the book series: New Perspectives in German Political Studies ((NPG))

Abstract

The question of the professionalization of the parliamentary mandate has long been debated in the literature. Rather than offering a theoretical approach, this chapter puts into perspective the process of professionalization of French and German MPs. It deals with the indicators of this process: developments in remuneration and equipment of the mandate; educational and professional background; self-perception as a professional. Moreover, the way the MPs pursue their careers, work in their district and manage an important workload are documented and analyzed. Altogether these different aspects illustrate the process of professionalization at work among the members of the German Bundestag and the French Assemblée nationale. At the same time, despite this common trend, it is also possible to distinguish between two patterns of professionalization, the German one being “parliament centered” whereas the French one is “constituency centered”.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In German political science, Dietrich Herzog did the pioneering work on politics as a profession (1975, 1982).

  2. 2.

    This observation of Best and Jahr (2006, 66) is based on the assertion that the holders of democratic mandates have become a socially and politically closed collective group. This not only requires further empirical proof, theoretically it also seems to overlook the logic of representative democracy and the principle of division of labor.

  3. 3.

    Special attention has been paid to this question during the last French presidential campaign in 2017, given the accusations of fictitious employment against the right-wing candidate François Fillon regarding his wife. Until a bill was passed in August 2017, proposed by the new French government, it was possible for French MPs, contrary to other Western democracies, to hire their spouse/husband or members of their families. In those cases, it was not possible to allocate more than half of the financial allowance (i.e. 4700 €).

  4. 4.

    The allowance for MPs was originally created in 1789.

  5. 5.

    The exact amount is € 5059 for MPs elected before June 2012 and € 5359 for MPs elected after 2012 (the difference between the two groups being the rate of pension contribution).

  6. 6.

    Drucksache 17/12500 of the German Bundestag; the report of the Commission is also published in Schüttemeyer and Schmidt-Jortzig 2014.

  7. 7.

    In detail: 12 percent with Bac+2 and 15.8 percent with a higher degree. Statistics from Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques (INSEE) 2014.

  8. 8.

    There are certainly sectors of which there are no representatives in parliament; whether or to what extent this has effects on representation of specific interests is not relevant in the context of this chapter.

  9. 9.

    It should be noted, however, that this extreme renewal rate varies immensely among the parties: 94 percent in La France Insoumise, a movement of the extreme left, and 90 percent in the case of the new center majority party, La République en Marche (with 6 and 10 percent respectively of defectors from traditional left-wing parties), whereas the established party PS (Parti socialiste) scores 10 percent newcomers and LR (Les Républicains) 37 percent.

  10. 10.

    In 1985, the “super cumul” of more than three mandates was forbidden. The rule was quite simple: The number of elective mandates was limited to two, even though not all mandates were taken into account. In 2000, this regulation was confirmed and its scope extended. The laws of 1985 and 2000 had a perverse effect: They made the holding of two mandates the rule (Mény 1992).

  11. 11.

    This plays, for instance, an important role in a debate that comes up now and again in Germany about the “Nebentätigkeit” and “Nebeneinnahmen” of MPs, their activities and income beside the mandate.

  12. 12.

    Some questions were not asked during the CITREP project in France since the research team already had data available from the LEGIPAR project (Parliamentary Legitimation in France and Europe).

  13. 13.

    LEGIPAR questions were submitted to 227 of 577 MPs during face-to-face interviews in 2009 and 2010. The wording of this question was: “Where do you experience more satisfaction?”

  14. 14.

    LEGIPAR data. The relation is weak but statistically significant (Cramer’s V 0.122, Chi = 0.085).

  15. 15.

    The law fixes a ceiling for the amount of remuneration an elected representative may receive. This ceiling corresponds to one-and-a-half times the sum of the parliamentary remuneration.

  16. 16.

    MPs with accumulated mandates had 30 days after their election in June 2017 to comply with the new regulation.

  17. 17.

    The law of 2014 forbids any cumul between an executive position at the local level and a seat in parliament. It is still possible for an MP to be a “simple” municipal councilor (or a provincial or regional councilor) but not a mayor or deputy mayor (or president or vice-president of a province or a region).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CNRS, Centre Emile Durkheim, Sciences-Po Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France

    Eric Kerrouche

  2. Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany

    Suzanne S. Schüttemeyer

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  1. Eric Kerrouche
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  2. Suzanne S. Schüttemeyer
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Stuttgart Institute of Social Sciences, Stuttgart, Germany

    Oscar W. Gabriel

  2. CNRS, Centre Emile Durkheim Sciences-Po Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France

    Eric Kerrouche

  3. Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany

    Suzanne S. Schüttemeyer

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Kerrouche, E., Schüttemeyer, S.S. (2018). Parliament Centered or Constituency Centered? The Professionalization of the Parliamentary Mandate. In: Gabriel, O., Kerrouche, E., Schüttemeyer, S. (eds) Political Representation in France and Germany. New Perspectives in German Political Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72029-6_2

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