ABSTRACT
The chapter uses the lens of representational role theory to investigate who and how MLAs represent. Beginning with the ‘who’ question, survey and elite interview data reveals the importance MLAs attach to a range of representational foci, including ethnonational community, political party, religious community, and the universal focus of ‘all the people in Northern Ireland’. Although MLAs attach some importance to ethnonational representation, this does not emerge as the priority. Rather, representation in the Assembly is found to be more multidimensional, and less ethnically charged, than some might assume. The ‘how’ question of representation considers the source of authority which prevails when MLAs make decisions: do MLAs follow their instincts (as trustees), their party instructions (as partisans), or their voters’ preferences (as delegates)? The chapter reveals that the majority of MLAs exhibit the partisan style, confirming their ‘party animals’ nickname to be accurate. Data on focus and styles of representation elsewhere in the UK is used to situate the views of MLAs in a comparative context. This reveals MLAs to be somewhat more inclusive in terms of representational focus, but the most deferential to party and the least independent-minded in terms of representational style.
