Who talks to whom? Using social network models to understand debate networks in the European Parliament

2022/11/20 by Stefanie Walter, Lucy Kinski, Zsófia Boda · 1 voice · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Business, Management and Accounting · #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #Social Media and Politics #Political Influence and Corporate Strategies

paper · doi:10.1177/14651165221137994

openalex publication_date 2022/11/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22

Abstract

Research into parliamentary speech making–behaviour of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) usually takes a static perspective. We offer an interactive and dynamic approach that understands parliamentary debates as a relational network phenomenon and investigates MEPs’ debate interactions. This allows us to uncover dynamics of inclusiveness and pluralism, self-reinforcing power relationships and transnational policy alliances. Analyzing 11,408 debate interactions between MEPs using a combination of text and dynamic network analysis, we find that male, senior and influential parliamentarians from powerful member states receive more attention with evidence for a self-reinforcing effect over time. Interestingly, seniority matters more for debate attention than leadership positions. Sharing the same nationality and a similar political leaning also shape debate coalitions with the former being more important than the latter.

Cited by

• Benchmarking Gender and Political Bias in Large Language Models

Discussions

• This article in European Union Politics, co-authored by Dr @lucykinski.bsky.social, offers an interactive approach to MEPs' parliamentary speech-making behaviour, uncovering the dynamics of inclusive [bsky, 3 points, 0 comments]

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