Party Personnel Strategies, Electoral Systems and Parliamentary Committee Assignments

Matthew S Shugart, Matthew E Bergman, Cory L. Struthers, Ellis S Krauss, and Robert J Pekkanen

The book analyzes how political parties pursue both seat-maximization and enhancement of their policy brand by how they deploy of their "personnel"--their legislators--to specialized committees. Depending on the electoral system and the party's right-vs.-left issue ownership, they may deploy personnel mainly according to an "expertise model" (e.g., matching legislators' prior occupation to committee policy function) or according to an "electoral-constituency model" (e.g. catering to specific district interests). The book's empirical applications cover eight countries: Germany, Japan, Israel, Portugal, Britain, and New Zealand.

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