ABSTRACT
The neo-institutional approach focuses on the political consequences of institutions and, in our case, how institutional constraints and norms influence the behaviour of legislators and legislatures. 1 Thus, if one attempts to compare and classify legislatures based on the behaviour of legislators, one needs to discuss the institutions that condition this behaviour. Strøm, for example, argues that ‘institutions are the rules that constrain reason, and they do so to a greater or lesser extent’. 2 He suggests four legislative goals – re-selection, re-election, party office and legislative office. These goals are institutionally conditioned, or institutionally generated, based on the institution’s ability to enable or to constrain certain behaviour. Strøm’s major contribution is that he brings in external institutions beyond the legislature itself, such as candidate selection, as factors or variables that can influence legislative behaviour.
