This project considers the effect of biographical factors on the behavior of Czech and Slovak politicians. It asks whether characteristics such as age, gender, education, occupation, and political experience affect the issues that politicians focus on, the effort they devote to them, and their effectiveness in realizing their priorities. The project will focus on all Czech and Slovak MPs and ministers from the First Republic and the postcommunist era. For each politician, we will create a standard curriculum vitae and will then attempt to statistically link biographical characteristics with measures of performance in the areas of substance, effort, and effectiveness. Specific outcomes include attendance rates, parliamentary speeches and interpellations, laws proposed, reported, and passed and their substantive focus, and duration of service among others. The project is important both in providing new data on the performance and backgrounds of politicians that will serve as a public good for the profession and new understandings of the reasons politicians in these countries appear to be underperforming.

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