How Political Seniority Shapes MPs’ Constituency Focus on the Parliamentary Floor: Insights from the Case of Ghana

To what extent do MPs change their constituency focus in parliament when they become more senior? Extant research examines MPs’ representational focus mainly by looking at electoral incentives; this study tests if MPs’ level of constituency focus shifts because they gain more institutional power in parliament. In the starting phase of MPs’ careers, constituency focus is expected to be more intense because it helps build connections and networks that are crucial for career progression. But as MPs become more senior, constituency focus is likely to diminish as it can be a distraction from other roles and responsibilities that come with seniority. To test these claims, the study measures the constituency focus of parliamentary speeches made to the Ghanaian parliament between 2005 and 2024 and uses the original biographical datasets of MPs combined with electoral data to perform causal mediation analyses. The study finds that senior MPs and MPs who gain institutional power (e.g. committee chairs) make fewer constituency speeches. However, countering our expectations, senior MPs do not make significantly fewer constituency speeches because they occupy power positions. The findings highlight the need to further investigate MPs’ representational priorities to better understand the trade-offs between roles throughout their career lifecycle.