The Institutional Foundations of Legislative Expertise

• In Event: Expertise and Professionalization in Legislatures

Abstract

We argue that strong legislatures, equipped with greater de jure policy influence and de facto budgets for legislative work facilitate the cultivation of policy expertise for individual representatives. We derive testable implications from the argument regarding legislative behavior as well as the appointment of leaders in the legislature and executive in parliamentary democracies and test them with data from national and subnational European governments. We find evidence that stronger legislatures facilitate the cultivation of expertise, increasing specialization in legislative behavior, the salience of seniority in the appointment of parliamentary committee chairs and ministers with portfolio, and increasing overall ministerial stability.

Authors

• Despina Alexiadou, University of Strathclyde

• David Fortunato, University of California, San Diego