Electoral Competition and Procedural Reforms in the Dutch Tweede Kamer, 1868-1917

Why do legislative institutions evolve? In this paper we study the effects that changing electoral conditions had on procedural developments in the Dutch Tweede Kamer between 1868 and 1917. During this historical period, the Netherlands witnessed a significant intensification of electoral competition in some electoral districts but not in others. In our analysis of over 1,000 MP-election observations linked with an original dataset on the Dutch procedural reforms, we exploit this heterogeneity to examine the effect of electoral incentives on MP activity and preferences related to procedural reforms. Our findings have important implications for the theoretical understanding of the co-evolution of party systems and legislative institutions.