A Functional Analysis of UK Debates in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales

Abstract

In 2010, the UK held its first ever televised debates for Prime Minister, featuring Gordon Brown, David Cameron, and Nick Clegg. At the same time debates were held in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. These “regional” UK debates were a mixed bag. The debate in Northern Ireland included candidates for members of the Northern Ireland parliament; the debate in Scotland featured candidates running for the UK parliament, and the Wales debate included both kinds of candidates. The debates featured a mixture of issues, touching on “regional” and UK questions and candidates. Previous research has studied the three UK debates (Benoit & Benoit-Bryan, 2013); this study applies Functional Theory to three debates, one from Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Overall in these three debates acclaims were more common than attacks and defenses were the least common function. Incumbent party candidates acclaimed and defended more, and attacked less, than challengers. This relationship was particularly strong when these politicians discussed their records in office (past deeds). The candidates in these debates discussed policy more than character. The participants acclaimed more and attacked less when discussing general goals and ideals.