Legislators' Patterns of Cooperation
![handle is hein.journals/ijsoctu5 and id is 113 raw text is:
International Journal of Social Science Studies
Vol. 5, No. 2; February 2017
Fam e ISSN 2324-8033 E-ISSN 2324-8041
Published by Redfame Publishing
URL: http://ijsss.redfame.com
Legislators' Patterns of Cooperation
Osnat Akirav
1Department of Political Science, The Western Galilee College, Akko, Israel
Correspondence: Osnat Akirav, Department of Political Science, The Western Galilee College, Akko, Israel.
Received: December 5, 2016 Accepted: January 10, 2017 Available online: January 14, 2017
doi: 10.11114/ijsss.v5i2.2148 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.11114/ijsss.v5i2.2148
Abstract
This study attempts to identify the patterns of cooperation between legislators. We argue that if legislators decide to
cooperate, they prefer to do so first with their colleagues who share similar affiliations and then across affiliations. In
order to examine this hypothesis, we devised a unique cooperation scale and tested it using a sample of the private
member bills that were initiated in the 18th Knesset (Israel's parliament) between 2009 and 2013. We then looked at
each bill with regard to its initiators and co-sponsors to see if they were members of the same party, members of the
opposition or coalition, or members of a minority group. Based on the quantitative analysis, we found that of all of the
factors, only being a minority was significant. Based on the qualitative analysis, we determined that intra-party
cooperation does exist. In three parties - Hadash, Meretz and Israel Beitenu -- legislators tended to cooperate with each
other. Finally, with regard to inter-party cooperation, Jewish and Arab MKs tended to cooperate, and Russian Jewish
legislators tended to cooperate regardless of party affiliation. Our study is innovative in its creation of a cooperation
scale that can be used in other legislatures and that is based on measures of co-sponsorship instead of analyses of dyadic
or social networks used in previous studies.
Keywords: inter-party cooperation, intra-party cooperation, cooperation scale, co-sponsors, legislation, legislators'
behavior
1. Introduction
Legislators in modem democracies tend to cooperate with each other when they have common goals (Matthews, 1960;
Fenno, 1973; Mayhew, 1974). The question this study asks is that what is the pattern of this cooperation? What are the
incentives to do so, compared to the costs of cooperation? Furthermore, if such cooperation exists, does it exist between
legislators of different parties, between those who are minority members and those who are in the majority, or between
those who are members of the coalition and the opposition and those who are members of the same party? To address
these questions, we developed a preliminary cooperation scale based on the different patterns we found in initiating and
co-sponsoring bills.
Given that sharing a position is one of the major predictors for co-sponsoring a bill (Cox & McCubbins, 1993; Crisp,
Kanthak, & Leijonhufvud, 2004), we maintain that legislators will first cooperate with the groups with whom they share
an affiliation in what we call intra-party cooperation. However, when the subject of the legislation is important to them,
they will cooperate across affiliations in what we term inter-party cooperation or cooperation within parliament.
The research has two goals. First, we seek to expand the discussion about the use of bill sponsorship to democracies
with parliamentarian regimes such as those in Europe and Israel, because most previous studies concentrate on the US
Congress. Second, we want to consider cooperation from a standpoint different from that of existing studies and then
suggest an addition point of view.
1.] Ambitions and Tendency to Cooperate
Legislative scholars generally agree that the job of legislators is multifaceted and revolves around three main roles:
legislation, oversight and representation. Hence, they are multi-dimensional actors (Fenno, 1978; Searing, 1994; Strom,
1997; Mayhew, 2000; Blomgren & Rozenberg, 2012). Furthermore, legislators act in two arenas within
parliament--formal and informal. Formal activity refers to those actions based on the procedures of the legislatures, and
informal activity involves actions that are not based on written procedures. We will concentrate on one specific formal
parliamentary tool and one that is considered significant - legislation.
Legislators have three roles--legislation, representation and oversight. In addition, according to Strom (1997), their
30](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/ijsoctu5&div=19&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
What Is HeinOnline?
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most
Legislators' Patterns of Cooperation
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most