Effects of age and tenure on MPs’ legislative behaviour in the Czech Republic

Abstract

ABSTRACTDemocratic regimes are based on the idea of reflecting the public’s plurality of opinions. However, parliamentary representation of some groups of citizens is inadequate. Unlike the underrepresentation of women or ethnic minorities, insufficient participation of young and old age cohorts has not received enough attention yet. To enrich public debate, I scrutinise effects of age and tenure on MPs’ parliamentary performance. I utilise a large-N quantitative study of the legislative behaviour of deputies in the Czech Republic from 1996 to 2017. The results suggest that the legislators’ age affects their voting attendance and activity positively, while tenure does so in a negative direction. Older MPs propose more bills and more experienced representatives address more speeches compared to their younger colleagues and novices, respectively. Moreover, the MPs’ age and tenure positively influence their gains of praesidium posts in intra-parliamentary bodies. Considering the results implying that age influences MPs’ parliamentary performance, more equal parliamentary representation of different age cohorts is a justifiable goal.