I asked a question at the ScraperWiki presentation but was not very happy with the answer. So I asked it again by email. I was worried by what I heard about expressing numerically how individual MPs voted. If I vote today against the Iraq war, but miss tomorrow’s vote, am I 50% in favour of it? I don’t think so.
QUESTION
Mary Smith MP votes against British troops being committed to war in Iraq, but is outvoted, and the invasion of Iraq begins,
Subsequently measures come before parliament which give effect to the decision made to participate.
She casts her vote on a case by case basis, given that the decision in principle has been made.
Does her support for some such measures “water down” her opposition to the war in principle in the eyes of those rating her performance at mysociety?
If they do, then I have a problem with your methodology.
REPLY from Julian Todd
It’s possible to undermine any methodology with hypothetical data.
In general it’s political questions rather than operational questions
that get to a vote, so the types of contradictions you are imagining
are rare.
We did originally encounter the problem with the Iraq war votes and
votes to investigate the cause of the war that seemed to weaken the
Tory position of being strongly in favour. But this was solved by
splitting it into two distinct policies:
One is for the initial invasion:
http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/policy.php?id=1049
The other is for later investigation of the war:
http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/policy.php?id=975
FINALLY: my comment. A tad defensive, I think.