Do Members of Parliament Express More Opposition in the Plenary than in the Committee? Comparing Frontstage and Backstage Behaviour in Five National Parliaments

2022/06/30 by Christer Karlsson, Thomas Persson, Moa Mårtensson · 1 voice
Social Sciences · Business, Management and Accounting · #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #Social Media and Politics #Political Influence and Corporate Strategies

paper · pdf · doi:10.1093/pa/gsac016

openalex publication_date 2022/06/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23

Abstract

Abstract This study attempts to break new ground by systematically comparing oppositional behaviour of Members of Parliament (MPs) in the two key arenas found in parliament: the plenary and the committee. Do MPs express more opposition frontstage in the plenary than backstage in the committee when discussing European affairs? The article sheds new light on political opposition in parliament by using a dataset of hand-coded statements made by MPs during plenary debates and European Affairs committee deliberations in five national parliaments. The results lend strong support to the main hypothesis that MPs express more opposition during plenary debates than committee deliberations.

Citations

• Competing Principals, Political Institutions, and Party Unity in Legislative Voting
• Political Opposition in the Contemporary World
• National Economic Voting in U.S. Presidential Elections
• Opposition in times of crisis: COVID-19 in parliamentary debates

Discussions

• Do MPs ramp up opposition frontstage in plenary or stay tame backstage in committees? Across five parliaments, this article by Christer Karlsson, Thomas Persson and Moa Mårtensson shows more critique [bsky, 0 points, 1 comments]

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