On September 10, the Final Conference was held as part of the HOME Project – How Members of Parliament in Africa Represent their Constituencies, funded by the FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology ((PTDC/CPO-CPO/4796/2020), with the Center for International Studies of Iscte – University Institute of Lisbon and the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon as partners.
The project by researcher Edalina Rodrigues Sanches, Assistant Researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon, seeks to study the link between representatives and constituencies, propose and test an integrated model of constituency dedication (DCE), map and explain variation in DCE and advance research on DCE and generate evidence that can inform democratic resilience in Africa, in the context of a Small-N comparative study that includes Ghana and South Africa, two of Africa’s most established democracies.
The conference was attended by researchers from various countries working on the various dimensions of political representation and their intersection with contextual and institutional factors. This was followed by a round table discussion on theoretical and methodological issues in the study of political representation in Africa.
Some of the questions governing the HOME project were:
- How do MPs behave in their constituencies?
- To what extent does their parliamentary activity reflect geographical interests?
- How do parties strengthen links with constituencies through recruitment and appointment to political office?
- What factors explain differences in constituency dedication (DCE)?
You can consult the event programme here: