Attending in Crisis: How British Parliamentarians Respond to Threats

• In Event: Poster Session: European Politics and Society & New Political Science
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: European Politics and Society

Abstract

Recent reform campaigns in the United Kingdom have decried the House of Lords as unresponsive to the concerns of everyday citizens. These campaigns highlight the privileged background of many Peers in arguing that unelected legislators cannot effectively represent the diversity of the country. Dealing with crisis is a fundamental legislative function that provides an opportunity to study how and to whom different types of legislators respond. I theorize that elected legislators will respond to widespread domestic crises by increasing their attendance during parliamentary sessions. These legislators wish to appear as populists who represent citizens in times of need in order to increase their chances for reelection. Unelected legislators have no incentive to be responsive to the public; instead, they will respond to crises only when they impact the ability of legislators retain their legislative seats.

Using a newly compiled dataset on legislative attendance in the UK Parliament, I test these responsiveness hypotheses by comparing attendance in the House of Commons and House of Lords after terrorist attacks and during House of Lords reform debates. Commons Members attend after terrorist attacks to strategize with other Members and staff and occasionally to participate in debates. These Members take action to show the public that they understand the severity of crises that impact citizens. Peers are unresponsive to terrorist attacks and only respond to reform debates, which threaten their positions in government. Normatively, it is unclear whether Peers genuinely are less concerned about citizen well-being or if their position as unelected legislators frees them from needing to immediately be responsive in favor of more thoughtful and reasoned debate. Establishing differences in responsiveness across elected and unelected legislatures is the first step toward better understanding differential ways in which legislators connect with citizens.

Author

• William O'Brochta, Washington University in St. Louis