Backbench specialisation: a study of parliamentary questions

Specialization by backbenchers in Parliament has long been
accepted as a truism: with the consequence that "there has been
no comprehensive examination of specialization in the House of
Commons."1 Only recently have demands for the study of specialization
been heard in Britain.8 Yet, whilst British academics have been talking of
such a study, American political scientists have actually put their results
where their mouths are. Numerous studies dealing with specialization in
both Houses of Congress have been published.3 The purpose of this paper,
therefore, is partly to redress the balance.