Legislative Voting and Accountability

Carey examines individualistic and collective representation in democracies and how it is shaped by legislative party unity.

John M. Carey (Author)

9780521711913, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 15 December 2008

216 pages, 14 tables
22.8 x 15.1 x 1.3 cm, 0.3 kg

'Carey's book expands our understanding of democratic representation by probing, both theoretically and empirically, citizens' ability to use legislatures as instruments of accountability. His approach is distinctive in its focus on the actions and votes of individual legislators. Most of his rich evidence comes from Latin American democracies, but anyone interested in representation and accountability will want to read and reflect on this seminal study.' Susan Stokes, Yale University

Legislatures are the core representative institutions in modern democracies. Citizens want legislatures to be decisive, and they want accountability, but they are frequently disillusioned with the representation legislators deliver. Political parties can provide decisiveness in legislatures, and they may provide collective accountability, but citizens and political reformers frequently demand another type of accountability from legislators – at the individual level. Can legislatures provide both kinds of accountability? This book considers what collective and individual accountability require and provides the most extensive cross-national analysis of legislative voting undertaken to date. It illustrates the balance between individualistic and collective representation in democracies, and how party unity in legislative voting shapes that balance. In addition to quantitative analysis of voting patterns, the book draws on extensive field and archival research to provide an extensive assessment of legislative transparency throughout the Americas.

1. To whom are legislators accountable?
2. Collective accountability and its discontents
3. The supply of visible votes
4. Demand for visible votes
5. Counting votes
6. Explaining voting unity
7. The individual-collective balance.

Subject Areas: Parliamentary & legislative practice [LNDP], Comparative politics [JPB], Political science & theory [JPA]