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With or against their region? Multiple-mandate holders in the Swiss parliament, 1985–2018

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Pages 971-992 | Published online: 16 Oct 2020
 

ABSTRACT

Regional and local units try to influence national decision-making in various ways. This paper analyses one particular channel of subnational influence: multiple-mandate holders. These are members of the national Parliament (MPs) who at the same time hold an elected office at regional or local level. Focusing on Switzerland, we first assess the extent of this phenomenon over time and subnational space. We then test for its impact on MPs’ actual vote choices, analyzing whether an MP’s subnational loyalty outweighs party pressure on policy proposals submitted by a Swiss canton. Our analyses draw on a new, original dataset covering all ca. 1,000 Swiss MPs between 1985 and 2018. In the main, we find that it is rather territorial homophily – the congruence of constituency and submitting canton – than holding dual mandates that plays a role when it comes to an individual MP’s vote decision. However, territorial interests are indeed capable of outweighing partisan ties.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. We use the female pronoun throughout, without of course wanting to imply that all MPs are women.

2. Accumulation may also refer to spheres other than the political (e.g. private sector). However, we exclusively focus on holding multiple political mandates: not only is this ‘the most controversial dimension’ (Dewoghélaëre, Berton, and Navarro Citation2006, 313) but also the only relevant from the perspective of territorial politics.

3. Note that voting instructions are forbidden by the Federal Constitution (Art. 161 para. 1).

4. Note that cantonal initiatives do not propose final and definite measures but demand the elaboration of a certain action or draft bill instead.

5. https://biblio.parlament.ch/e-docs/357,435.pdf (accessed 2018/06/03 and 2018/10/08).

8. Categories: no affiliation, Swiss People’s Party (V), Liberals (L), Centrists and Christian Democrats (C), Socialists (S), and Greens and Green-Liberals (G).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rahel Freiburghaus

Rahel Freiburghaus is a research assistant and PhD candidate at the University of Bern, Switzerland. Her research focuses on federalism, subnational lobbying, and Swiss politics. Earlier research has appeared in Democratization and Swiss Political Science Review.

Alexander Arens

Alexander Arens is a research assistant at the University of Bern, Switzerland. His research interests lie at the intersection of federalism, intergovernmentalism, and Swiss politics with a strong comparative perspective. Earlier research has appeared in Democratization.

Sean Mueller

Sean Mueller is SNSF Assistant Professor at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. He specialises in Swiss and comparative federalism, territorial politics, and direct democracy. Amongst others, earlier research has appeared in Publius, Regional & Federal Studies, and West European Politics.

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