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Book Reviews: Comparative Politics

Reelection rates to the U.S. Congress that typically are well in excess of 90% are seen by many as a major shortcoming, allegedly making legislators less responsive to citizen demands and limiting the opportunity for institutional change. Yet, in lamenting this state of affairs, critics tend to pay less attention to the other side of the coin, that is, the consequences associated with a relatively high turnover of legislators. In Mr. Smith Goes to Ottawa, on the Canadian House of Commons, Docherty presents just such a case. In Canada, turnover rates of 30-40% are not atypical, even when the incumbent government is successfully reelected. In the 1993 election year the exit rate of MPs reached 66%, with well over half the departures the result of electoral defeat. The outcome can be a legislature populated with political "amateurs," "politicians who come to national office without the benefit of any prior elected experience" (p. 40). One important consequence is the domination of these amateurs, and the legislative process as a whole, by a small group of experienced party leaders.