Thinking Critically About Casework: A View from an Ontario Constituency Office.

• Author: McKenna, Bruce

Constituency casework has become an integral component of how many parliamentarians understand their roles and responsibilities as democratically elected representatives of their communities. Yet the concept has not often been distinguished from other constituency responsibilities in academic literature. In this article, the author draws on his own experience as a former constituency assistant in an Ontario provincial legislative office, and on an analysis of relevant documents, to argue that the current model of constituency casework presents a number of ethical tensions for federal and provincial parliamentarians. He begins by isolating the concept of casework, proposing a working definition, and asking some basic questions about its nature and its purpose. He argues that casework is an almost entirely informal field with no explicit mandate in law or parliamentary procedure. The absence of a rule book translates into day-to-day dilemmas and quandaries for staff and members. He also observes that a vaguely understood apolitical service-provision function in the constituency office has been conventionalized over the years, and he discusses the tension between this service-provision function and the necessarily political character of a constituency office. Finally, he argues that the volume of appeals to politicians to resolve personal problems can be linked to specific problems of public policy. He concludes by calling for greater formalization and standardization of the casework mandate for both federal and provincial legislators.

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Politicians, political staff, and many members of the public view constituency work as one of the basic duties of elected officials. Some Members of Parliament have indicated in exit surveys that helping constituents with their personal issues was among the most rewarding parts of their time in office. Other MPs have praised the work of constituency assistants as an essential, if often overlooked, support. (1) Most scholarly analyses frame constituency work in terms of the representative function of MPs, viewing "constituency service" as encompassing a broad range of activities that take place in the riding, including attending events and filling other networking roles. (2) For the authors of the recent study Representation in Action, forging "service connections" is one way among many in which politicians go about the work of "representation." (3)

Few published analyses in Canada have paused to think critically about casework as a distinct concept. C.E.S. Franks observed that federal MP offices circa 2007 dealt predominantly with cases related to "the programmes of such departments as Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, Health Canada, Citizenship and Immigration, and the Canada Revenue Agency," often related to "entitlements and the whereabouts of cheques." (4) The authors of Representation in Action allude to an "ombudsman role" which MPs often delegate to staff, who in turn have occasionally reported viewing their position as "a liaison between the departments and the citizens." (5) Louise Cockram describes constituency service in Nova Scotia as consisting of an "ombudsperson" role in relation to the provincial government, as well as a "direct service provision role" that can consist of almost anything. Cockram argues that this role "goes beyond representation" and has an unclear relationship to the role of MLAs in the legislature. (6)

While personal casework of this kind has been widely observed to account for a very large proportion of local staff time, evidence from the Samara Centre's research indicates that there is some ambivalence among MPs around the demands of casework. Interviewees make the intuitive point that the primary responsibility of elected officials should be to contribute to policymaking and system-level solutions, rather than simply helping individuals access government services. Political offices are also by their nature ill-suited for equitable service-provision. Their mandate is informal, and constituent case files do not carry over between successive occupants of a seat. (7) Some observers, including Peter Macleod and the Samara Centre, have proposed a variety of institutional reforms to formalize and streamline the service provision function of constituency offices. Ideas include making constituency staff into non-partisan public servants, and incorporating constituency offices into permanent "hubs" of civic life which would include offices of elected representatives of all levels. (8)

My goal in this article is to articulate some of the fundamental issues surrounding the specific concept of "casework", as distinct from other constituency responsibilities. Drawing on my own experience as a former constituency assistant in an Ontario provincial legislative office, and on an analysis of relevant documents, I will argue that the current model of constituency casework presents a number of ethical tensions that federal and provincial parliamentarians need to grapple with. I begin by isolating the concept of casework, proposing a working definition, and asking some basic questions about its nature and its purpose. I argue that casework is an almost entirely informal field with no explicit mandate in law or parliamentary procedure. The absence of a rule book translates into day-to-day dilemmas and quandaries for staff and members. I also observe that a vaguely understood apolitical service-provision function in the constituency office has been conventionalized over the years, and discuss the tension between this service-provision function and the necessarily political character of a constituency office. Finally, I argue that the volume of appeals to politicians to resolve personal problems can be linked to specific problems of public policy. The abundance of service work to be done--particularly in urban ridings--is nothing to celebrate. I conclude by calling for greater formalization and standardization of the casework mandate for both federal and provincial legislators.

What is casework?

The language of "casework" sometimes appears in academic writing on the role of elected officials in North America. Drawing on an established US literature, a 2016 article by political scientist Royce Koop discusses casework as a subset of "service responsiveness", and associates the concept of "casework" with two fields of activity: "intervening between constituents and the civil service" and "advocating for ... constituents to the civil service and government." Classic US academic sources similarly frame casework as a go-between function associated with the member's access to the government and the civil service. (9)

These descriptions of casework do not fully capture the day-to-day reality as it is experienced by many constituency staff. Most importantly, the de facto casework mandate extends well beyond relations with the civil service. I would like to propose a working definition of casework for applied purposes--in other words, for understanding the prevailing division of labour in political offices in contemporary Canada, without formulating a rigorous intervention in academic debates over representation theory.

On the ground, we can understand casework as work done by an elected official or their staff in response to requests from individual constituents, seeking help to address problems of a personal nature. The action taken can involve providing information about government programs...