Constituency influence in Parliament [electronic resource] : countering the centre / Kelly Blidook.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Blidook, Kelly.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cabinet system.

Constituent power.

Canada. Parliament--Rules and practice.

Canada.

Canada. Parliament--Private bills.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (197 p.)

Place of Publication:

Vancouver, B.C. : UBC Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Canada's parliamentary system has been characterized as "executive-dominant," with governance focused on the "centre," and scholars have paid little attention to the legislature and its members. Constituency Influence in Parliament illuminates how MPs, in their pursuit of various goals in the legislature, play an important representative role in shaping policy. This critical volume offers the first full-scale examination of the rules and conduct of parliamentary Private Members' Business and of the electoral and policy motivations of those who hold the country's highest elected office. Kelly Blidook offers a thought-provoking assessment of the representational and policy dynamics that exist within the Canadian institutional structure. His examination of what MPs do, why they do it, and what effect it has, resurrects the relevance of Canada's Parliament.

Contents:

Parliament and its members : representation and governance

The electoral connection and legislative behaviour in Canada

Legislation in the House : private members' business

Private members' business : participation and motivation

Constituency interests and private members' business

The nation's interests, the party's interests, or the MP's interests?

Does it matter? do members of parlament influence policy?

Conclusion : individual autonomy and representation.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-280-59674-0

9786613626578

0-7748-2158-2

OCLC:

778189830