Setting-Up Institutions in Multilevel States: Assemblies, Parties and the Selection of Candidates

Depending on the country, an MP may be legally bounded to represent her constituency or the entire territory. Nevertheless,there is a dual and conflicting relationship between the party representation, at the national level, and the other territorial tiers of government. Besides these constraints, a representative can, however, serve the party in other ways and stations because there will be an additional level of career opportunities. Thus, we ask under which conditions is an MP candidate in the regional lists for the legislative elections more likely to appear in placements for secure seats? We expect that MPs coming from the regional constituencies (Azores and Madeira) and in more secure seats, be more likely to be, at a point in time, an MP at the Regional Assembly.We test our hypotheses with new data from the Portuguese case.