Look who’s talking: Parliamentary debate in the European Union

Jonathan B Slapin and Sven-Oliver Proksch
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Jonathan B Slapin: University of Houston, USA, jonslapin@gmail.com
Sven-Oliver Proksch: University of Mannheim, Germany

European Union Politics, 2010, vol. 11, issue 3, 333-357

Abstract: Legislative speeches are an important part of parliamentary activity in the European Parliament (EP). Using a new dataset on EP speeches, this paper offers an explanation for participation in legislative debates. We argue that floor speeches partially serve as a communication tool between members of parliament, their national parties, and their European political groups. EP group dissidents often go on record by taking the floor when there is a conflict between their national party and their European political group. In this instance, members give speeches for two reasons: to explain their national party’s position to other members of their EP political group, and to create a positive record for themselves in the eyes of the national party to serve their own reelection purposes.

Keywords: candidate selection; European Parliament; political parties; legislative speeches; roll call votes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:eeupol:v:11:y:2010:i:3:p:333-357

DOI: 10.1177/1465116510369266

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