Parliamentary Experience and Representational Role Orientations in Canada

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The hypothesis that legislators' role orientations reflect both preelection and the job experiences has seldom been tested. Panel data on Canadian freshman MPs indicate that although new members have reasonably accurate general images of their jobs before entering the House, considerable change in the emphasis accorded constituency occurs during the first term. As anticipated, MPs representing rural ridings tend to give increasing emphasis to constituency in representational role style and focus. In contrast, progressively ambitious MPs de-emphasize constituency-particularly in their representational styles. Contrary to expectations, relationships between experience as a parliamentary secretary and the salience of constituency in representational roles are very weak. The paper concludes by arguing that political ambition is a key variable for understanding shifts in legislators' role orientations, and that future research should explore interactions between ambition and members' parliamentary office-holding experiences.