Edited by William O. Aydelotte

• Frontmatter,
• Series Preface,
• Contents,
• Preface,
• Introduction,
• 1. Careers and Committees in the American Congress: The Problem of Structural Change,
• 2. The Personal Circulation of a Legislature: The Danish Folketing, 1849-1968,
• 3. Measurement of Attitude Changes Among the Members of the French Chamber of Deputies, 1882-1884,
• 4. Radicals and Whigs in the British Liberal Party, 1906-1914,
• 5. Legislative Voting Analysis in Disciplined Multi-Party Systems: The Swedish Case,
• 6. The Making of the Mexican Constitution,
• 7. Constituency Influence on the British House of Commons, 1841-1847,
• 8. Cue-Taking by Congressmen: A Model and a Computer Simulation,
• 9. Interests and the Structure of Influence: Some Aspects of the Norwegian Storting in the 1960s,
• List of Participants in the Conference at the University of Iowa, March 13-15, 1972,
• The Contributors,
• Index,

In this volume thirteen American and European scholars show how a variety of mathematical tools may be used to attack major questions in the history of parliamentary behavior. Their essays treat key topics related to the varied but comparable circumstances of seven countries. These topics include: recruitment and career patterns; actions and decisions of legislators as revealed by their roll call votes; and hypotheses that might help explain legislative behavior.
Historians have long been interested in the study of parliaments, but the recent application of quantitative techniques has made possible the effective use of data too voluminous to be comprehended by traditional methods. These techniques have also permitted a more precise and searching examination of certain controversial questions. These essays provide a new measure of and challenge to long accepted views regarding the operation of parliaments.
Contributors: William O. Aydelotte, Aage R. Clausen, Gudmund Hernes, Sören Holmberg, Geoffrey Hosking, Anthony King, Donald R. Matthews, Mogens N. Pedersen, Douglas Price, Antoine Prost, Christian Rosenzveig, Peter H. Smith, and James A. Stimson.
Originally published in 1977.
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