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Backbenchers and select committees in the British House of Commons: Can Parliament offer useful roles for the frustrated?
Author(s) -
JOGERST MICHAEL A.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
european journal of political research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.267
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1475-6765
pISSN - 0304-4130
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-6765.1991.tb00254.x
Subject(s) - house of commons , parliament , variety (cybernetics) , legislature , government (linguistics) , select committee , public administration , service (business) , house of representatives , work (physics) , political science , public relations , sociology , commons , law , business , politics , computer science , marketing , mechanical engineering , linguistics , philosophy , artificial intelligence , engineering
. The success of the departmentally‐related Select Committees established in 1979 depended upon active backbenchers willing to monitor and if necessary criticize party leaders and policies. Such a notion, however, is generally held to be inconsistent with party government dynamics associated with the Westminster Model. This article suggests that MPs, particularly backbenchers, are frustrated with their jobs and seek meaningful roles to play in the House. An increasingly important avenue for them is through select committee service, which offers them a variety of rewards and opportunities. The data is drawn from over one hundred interviews with MPs, clerks and staff during 1986‐87 while a Fulbright Scholar at Nuffield College, Oxford. This article is part of a larger work on changing legislative attitudes and a comparative project on parliamentary reform.