Role Orientations of Members of Parliament

Abstract

To what extent would a change of the Dutch electoral system, strengthening the bond between individual Members of Parliament (MPs) and specific constituencies, improve the quality of political representation, and increase the legitimacy of the political system in the process? In order to answer this question, we make a distinction between policy representation and specific interest representation. We expect that variations in the electoral system will have an effect on specific interest representation but not on policy representation. Findings from international comparative research suggest that this is the case indeed, but only for territorially defined interests, not for functionally defined interests. Close contact between MPs and their constituents might increase people's trust in politicians. However, this does not necessarily mean that it also leads to an increase of the legitimacy of parliament and the parliamentary system.