Assessing Institutional Determinants of MP Behaviour: Survey Data from the Baltic States

Abstract

To what extent do electoral & legislative institutions affect the behaviour of parliamentarians in new democracies? This article examines this question on the basis of a wide-ranging survey of MPs in the Baltic states from January 2000. Given substantial differences in the types of institutions existing in the three states, the research tests whether these differences are reflected in MPs' responses to key questions about their relationship to & interaction with (1) parliamentary work, (2) their party & faction, (3) individual voters, (4) the interests of their district or constituency, & (5) interest groups. The results corroborate a number of existing theoretical postulates, while leaving unconfirmed others.