CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2011
| Author | Neamtu, Silvia Ioana |
|---|---|
| Title | THE EFFECTS OF THE ELECTORAL REFORM ON MEMBERS OF THE ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT: A NETWORK ANALYSIS |
| Summary | In this thesis, I analyze the characteristics of the legislative networks inside the Romanian Parliament, by treating the Members of Parliament as nodes and their initiated proposals as links between them. I map out the networks of collaboration of the Romanian legislature for a period of four years and between two electoral systems – proportional representation with closed lists (2006-2007) and mixed-member proportional with single member districts (2009-2010). Based on the theories of purposiveness and competing principals with respect to legislative accountability, the social network analysis that I undertake aims at spotting the differences in the structural positions of the legislators before and after the electoral reform in 2008. I employed centrality measures, conducted sub-group analysis and a Relational Contingency Tables analysis to test my hypothesis. Findings show that there is change in the behavior of legislators in two different electoral systems. It is easier in the mixed-member proportional system to form collaboration ties than in the previous electoral system. However, the observed relationships have the opposite effect than expected, with a less dense network with more cross-party collaborations in 2006 and highly dense with strong party clusters in 2010. The expected party discipline in the proportional representation system (2006-2007) is broken by legislators with a strategic position in the networks, who encourage cross-party collaborations on initiating legislative proposals. Generally, the effect of the electoral reform is weak. This research links network positions to the competing principals’ theory, by rethinking agency and its practical implications for party politics. |
| Supervisor | Toka, Gabor; Vedres, Balazs |
| Department | Political Science MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2011/neamtu_silvia-ioana.pdf |
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