<i>Juge ou oracle? L’influence d’un chroniqueur politique sur la vie parlementaire au Québec</i>

Background: Michel David has been publishing columns evaluating the performance of Québec parliamentarians since 1995. Analysis: This unique case, providing evaluations for 50 parliamentary sessions, allows us to quantitatively examine whether certain biases influence the evaluation of political actors by the media. Our results do not indicate any gender bias, but favourable biases toward senior ministers, the Parti Québécois, Québec Solidaire, and opposition members are observed. Moreover, the magnitude of the assigned ratings is positively associated with the likelihood of a legislator seeking re-election in subsequent elections. Conclusions and implications: We conclude that evaluations by the media elite can serve as effective predictors of parliamentary career trajectories.