Political Parties, Parliaments and Legislative Speechmaking

Hanna Bäck is Professor of Political Science at Lund University, Sweden, and has previously held positions at the European University Institute and the University of Mannheim, Germany. Her research focuses mainly on political parties and coalition politics.Marc Debus is Professor of Comparative Government at the University of Mannheim, Germany. His research interests include political institutions, party competition, coalition politics, and political decision-making in multi-level systems.

• 1. Introduction2. Theoretical Expectations about Speechmaking3. How to Analyse Speeches and Legislative Debates4. Who Speaks in European Parliaments?5. Who Speaks Against the Party?6. Conclusions about Legislative Speechmaking

To date, too little attention has focused on the words of legislators on the floor of the chamber. This book provides a welcome and study of speeches in parliament, showing that gender, an MP's role and constituency characteristics shapes who talks and how loyal MPs are to their party when talking. Bäck and Debus have produced an exemplary piece of comparative research and a must-read for anyone interested in political parties or parliaments.' – Shane Martin, University of Leicester, UK