Geographical representation under a single nationwide district: the case of the Netherlands

Previous studies have shown that MPs often mention places in their constituency in parliamentary questions, which is most commonly attributed to electoral incentives. If an electoral system makes use of a single nationwide district, however, these incentives do not apply in the same way. MPs may still substantively represent a geographical region, in order to win national-level personal preference votes or because they are motivated to stand up for the region of residence. In the Netherlands, where lower house elections take place in a single nationwide district, previous research has shown that candidates receive a relative large part of their preference votes in and around their own place of residency. This paper explores the extent to which MPs pay specific attention in parliamentary questions and debates to the region they reside in, and whether the extent they do can be explained by the number of preference votes they gather in this region. We expect that MPs who receive relatively more votes in the region around their place of residence are more likely to mention that region. In addition, we expect that this effect is stronger for MPs who do not reside in the main urban area (Randstad).