Dynamic Political Rhetoric: Electoral, Economic, and Partisan Determinants of Speech-Making in the UK Parliament

Kira Killermann, Sven-Oliver Proksch

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

    139 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    Parliamentary debate is one major outlet for Members of Parliament (MPs), who spend lots of time preparing for and participating in such discussions. In this paper, we investigate in how far the focus MPs choose in their speeches varies as the economic, partisan and electoral context changes. We choose to study the dynamics nature of speech content in the UK House of Commons, as British MPs enjoy broad discretion regarding the content of their speeches. This paper analyses the constituency, national or partisan focus of all speeches held in the House of Commons between January 1996 and September 2004. We find that government and opposition MPs react differently to contextual changes. Government MPs generally have a higher district focus, which is increased further when the local economy declines and when the governing party becomes more popular.
    Original languageEnglish
    Number of pages29
    Publication statusPublished - 29 Aug 2013
    Event109th Annual Meeting & Exhibition of the American Political Science Association (APSA) 2013
    - Chicago, United States
    Duration: 29 Aug 20131 Sept 2013
    Conference number: 109

    Conference

    Conference109th Annual Meeting & Exhibition of the American Political Science Association (APSA) 2013
    Abbreviated titleAPSA
    Country/TerritoryUnited States
    CityChicago
    Period29/08/131/09/13

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Dynamic Political Rhetoric: Electoral, Economic, and Partisan Determinants of Speech-Making in the UK Parliament'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this