The What, Why’s and How’s of Constituency Service

Abstract

This Special Issue addresses the ‘what’, ‘why’s’ and ‘how’s’ of constituency service in the five Nordic states of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Whilst there are some Nordic answers to the ‘who?’ question, there is virtually nothing on the ‘how’ question, namely how MPs represent the citizenry and the role constituency service may or may not play in the representation process. In this Introduction we (1) define the term and identify four main aspects of constituency service; (2) draw on the comparative literature to consider the institutional and non-institutional variables that might be expected to prompt parliamentarians to undertake constituency service and shape the form it takes; (3) view the ‘how question’ from a comparative perspective and consider ways in which it might be anticipated that Nordic legislators would undertake constituency service.