The Sound of Rebellion: Voting Dissent and Legislative Speech in the UK House of Commons. Issue 2 (19th July 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Slapin, Jonathan B.; Kirkland, Justin H.
• Is Part Of: Legislative studies quarterly. Volume 45:Issue 2(2020)
• Page Start: 153
• Page End: 176
• Publication Date: 2019-07-19
• Subjects: House of Commons -- legislative politics -- party loyalty -- random forests -- text analysis; Legislative bodies -- Periodicals; Parlement; Procédure législative; Système parlementaire; Étude comparée (Descripteur de forme); Périodique électronique (Descripteur de forme); Ressource Internet (Descripteur de forme); 328
• DOI: 10.1111/lsq.12251
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0362-9805

Abstract

Abstract : Using data on the content of debate associated with votes in the UK House of Commons from 1992–2015, this article examines how government party MPs employ language in legislative speech when they vote against the party line. We find a robust statistical association between dissent on votes and the use of first‐person pronouns, simpler language, and giving longer speeches. Using a random forest algorithm for classification, we find that these language covariates are predictive of rebellion. The use of simpler, first‐person language has implications for political representation and offers new insight into how MPs use votes to distinguish themselves from their party, perhaps reflecting attempts to connect with constituents.