Party Whips and Expertise: Explaining Committee Switching in the Scottish Parliament

Abstract

Committee work lies at the core of parliamentary activities in established representative democracies. While extensive literature refers to committee activity, there is limited research on committee switching. This article seeks to address this gap and aims to explain what drives Members of the Scottish Parliament to switch committees. It focuses on the fifth session (since 2016) in which committee switching is frequent. The qualitative analysis uses semi-structured interviews conducted with committee switchers in January–February 2020. Findings illustrate that the main drivers for committee switching are a combination of organisational constraints and individual motivations. Among these, key determinants are party control and the legislators’ expertise and interest in the subject.