Representation of Local Interests and the Renomination of Party List Members in the German Bundestag

How do party delegates evaluate the representation of local interests by legislators elected through closed party lists? The extant literature expects clear behavioral differences between legislators in mixed-member electoral systems who are elected directly in electoral districts and those elected through party lists. But how important is this local representation in the eyes of the delegates? This paper examines whether party delegates, including those of parties that only win party-list mandates in a mixed-member system, prefer legislators who engage in local representation. Using a conjoint experiment with 560 delegates of five German parties that are currently represented in parliament and that use delegate conventions to nominate their candidates, I show that delegates of all parties prefer legislators who represent the interest of the delegates' local party chapter. Although the delegates' place of birth has no bearing on this preference, differences between parties exist in how important this trait is for the delegates' decisions compared to other factors presented in the conjoint experiment. These findings have implications for the study of legislators' political behavior.