Introduction : a quarter-century of scholarship / Philip Norton -- I. Developing theory -- Rational-choice theory in legislative studies : models of politics without romanticism / Thomas Saalfeld -- Conditional agenda-setting and decision-making inside the European parliament / George Tsebelis -- II. Comparing legislatures -- Introduction : comparing the legislative performance of legislatures / David Arter -- Social choice and comparing legislatures : constitutional versus institutional constraints / Anthony J. McGann -- Rethinking bicameral strength : a three-dimensional approach / Meg Russell -- Conclusion. Questioning the ‘Mezey question’ : an interrogatory framework for the comparative study of legislatures / David Arter -- III. Party, division and consensus -- Party unity in parliamentary democracies : a comparative analysis / Ulrich Sieberer -- Parliamentary consociationalism in Lebanon : equal citizenry vs. quotated confessionalism / Imad Salamey and Rhys Payne -- Parliamentary opposition in Westminster democracies : Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand / Andre Kaiser -- Differences and changes in Danish Party organisations : central party organisation versus parliamentary party group power / Helene Helboe Pedersen -- IV. Representation -- Ethnic group representation in cross-national comparison / Didier Ruedin -- Women’s substantive representation : defending feminist interests or women’s electoral preferences? / Anouk Lloren -- State-based representation and national policymaking : the evolution of the Australian Senate and the federation / Scott Brenton -- ‘A more representative chamber’ : representation and the House of Lords / Hugh Bochel and Andrew Defty -- V. Influence of members -- Assessing the influence of select committees in the UK : the education and skills committee, 1997-2005 / Andrew Hindmoor, Phil Larkin and Andrew Kennon -- Exploring the role of ‘legislators’ in Canada : do members of parliament influence policy? / Kelly Blidook -- Parliament and the poll tax : a case study in parliamentary pressure / Philip Cowley -- VI. Parliaments and citizens -- Studying the relationship between parliament and citizens / Cristina Leston-Bandeira -- How are parliaments using new media to engage with citizens? / Jeffrey Griffith and Cristina Leston-Bandeira -- Parliament and citizens in the United Kingdom / Philip Norton -- Microblogging, constituency service and impression management : UK MPs and the use of Twitter / Nigel Jackson and Darren Lilleker -- VII. Parliamentary questions -- Parliamentary questions, the behaviour of legislators, and the function of legislatures : an introduction / Shane Martin -- Questioning parliamentary questions / Olivier Rozenberg and Shane Martin -- Parliamentary questioning in 17 European parliaments : some steps towards comparison / Frederico Russo and Matti Wiberg -- Parliamentary questions as instruments of substantive representation : visible minorities in the UK House of Commons, 2005-2010 / Thomas Saalfeld.