Parliamentary Debates Research Articles

Exploring sufficiency in energy policy: insights from Sweden

Energy efficiency and renewable energy strategies have been insufficient in achieving rapid and profound reductions of energy-related greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. Consequently, energy sufficiency has gained attention as a complementary strategy over the past two decades. Yet, most research on energy sufficiency has been theoretical and its implementation in policy limited. This study draws on the growing sufficiency literature to examine the presence of sufficiency as a strategy for reducing energy-related GHG emissions in Sweden, a country often regarded as a “climate-progressive” country. By conducting a keyword and content analysis of energy policies and parliamentary debates during four governmental terms of office (2006–2022), this research explores the extent to which sufficiency is integrated into Swedish energy policy, as well as potential barriers to its adoption. The analyses revealed a scarcity of sufficiency elements. Although some policies could potentially result in energy savings, they are infrequent and overshadowed by the prevailing emphasis on efficiency and renewable energy. Furthermore, Sweden lacks a target for sufficiency or absolute energy reductions. The main impediments to sufficiency implementation include the disregard of scientific evidence in the policy-making process and the perceived contradiction between sufficiency and industrial competitiveness. This study thus concludes that sufficiency at best remains at the periphery of Swedish energy policy. Given the reinforced ambitions within the European Union, this raises questions regarding the validity of Sweden’s reputation as a climate-progressive country.

How welfare wins: Discursive institutionalism, the politics of the poor, and the expansion of social welfare in India during the early 21st century

Abstract The worldwide explosion of social welfare has been described as the “quiet revolution” of our time. This paper analyses the expansion of social welfare in India during the early part of the 2000s. What explains this expansion of encompassing social welfare in India, following a history of disparate and fragmented social policies? The answer, I argue, lies in recognizing the importance of the “politics of the poor,” the ensemble of negotiations that encompass both electoral participation and contentious politics vis-à-vis the political institutions in India. The paper develops this argument by drawing together insights from discursive institutionalism, Indian politics, and the politics of welfare literature. Doing so enables me to examine the ways in which poor people’s political practices were interpreted by India’s parliamentarians to justify the legislation of India’s flagship social welfare program the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. I analyze the discourses communicated through 78 parliamentary debates in English and Hindi to enact the law. I blend this analysis with process tracing of electoral behavior of India’s poor and the Maoist insurrection that exploded in the country’s poorest districts at the turn of the century.

Independência e participação das elites políticas da Bahia na Assembleia Constituinte de 1823

When the work of the Constituent and Legislative General Assembly of the Empire of Brazil was begun in 1823, the state of Bahia was absent. It was to arrive at a delay, as in its capital and surrounding region the fight for independence was still underway. Such a situation sparked controversies and debates which highlighted the province’s economic and political importance, whose absence, according to various deputies, rendered the implementation of certain agendas inviable. Between impasses and decisions, it is possible to understand Bahia’s insertion in parliamentary debates and to problematize the intentions, interests, and plans of its representatives when they comment on issues such as amnesty, provincial government, and the creation of law courses in Brazil, based on the speeches registered in the annals of the Senate. The minutes of the Constituent General Assembly’s sessions held in 1823 are the sources used here, interpreted and problematized from the perspective of the discourse analysis method.

Food Politics and the Paradigm Shift in the Parliamentary Debate on Food Security

Food security has become a pertinent issue that is constantly being discussed in the mass media and even in parliamentary debates among the politicians. The topic of food security is political; hence, it should be handled with care within a confined aspect known as food politics. This paper is a preliminary stage study to examine which facets of food security that were most prominently debated among the members of the House of Representatives and whether the discussions were in line with and accurately portrayed the actual situation on the ground among the public. Hansards from the Parliament of Malaysia seatings in 2019 and 2022 were obtained as secondary data for analysis. The finding showed that the question of food availability was frequently mentioned in parliamentary debates as availability was the precursor to the other dimensions of food security. Additionally, food security issues raised by our politicians correspond with current major global issues that are affecting the public; collectively known as the 3C-shock: COVID-19, Climate Change and Conflict (Russia-Ukraine War).

The rise of carceral feminism in Sweden: Analysing political debate and policy on men's violence against women

Drawing on recent parliamentary debates and policy proposals, this article illustrates how penal policies and punitive agendas to combat gendered violence are on the rise in Sweden. While right-wing parties have long deployed a rhetoric of crime and punishment, today the Social Democrats and Left Party (labelling themselves feminist), as well as parts of the women's shelter movement, are deploying a similar discourse. This article shows how men's violence against women suddenly became a highly prioritised political issue within a discursive framework of ‘crime and punishment’, thereby asking whether carceral feminism is emerging in Sweden. Firstly, we analyse the logic of this approach, after which we discuss associated risks, such as how carceral feminism (re)shapes the understanding of gendered violence, that it is neither effective nor demanded by victims and has stratifying and stigmatising effects on racialised communities. Furthermore, it silences material welfare solutions and ultimately legitimates the expansion of penal policies, thereby providing a foundation for a carceral state in which repression becomes the standard response to social problems.

Deaths and COVID‐19: Talk, silence and alternative realities

AbstractThis article critically considers the UK Government's insidious attempts to control the narrative around COVID‐19 deaths through using the interrelated strategies of “talk and ‘silence’ in order to socially construct a definitive ‘truth’” around the virus. The article traces how these strategies worked in practice and the shift which took place from numerous press briefings and Parliamentary debates to an ominous silence around the number of deaths, in particular. At the same time, as the article illustrates, the government's truth has not prevailed. Their twin strategy has been contested and resisted by grassroots organizations and radical lawyers who have demanded that Ministers should take responsibility for the tens of thousands of preventable deaths which have occurred. Rather than government talk and silence prevailing, it is the voices of the haunted relatives of the dead, demanding accountability, which are creating an alternative narrative.

Catherine of Braganza during the Popish Plot and Exclusion Crisis: Anti‐Catholicism in the Houses of Commons and Lords, 1678–81*

AbstractThis article evaluates how Catherine of Braganza was scrutinised in parliament during the Popish Plot and Exclusion Crisis, 1678–81. During this period, politicians used Catherine as a political pawn to try and pressurise Charles II to secure the line of succession, which included proposals that he should divorce her and remarry, in order to secure the line of succession away from his Catholic convert brother, James, duke of York. The article focuses on how Catherine's 1661 articles of marriage became central in parliamentary debates following the Popish Plot scandal, and the extent to which politicians considered how far they could control Catherine's Catholic household without breaching the articles, or aggravating Portugal. The colonial assets of Tangier and Bombay (acquired by Britain upon Catherine's marriage to Charles), are given serious attention in understanding decisions made by parliament during this period, as removing Catherine as queen threatened to jeopardise Britain's foreign policy relationship with Portugal, as well as its trade networks and aspirations for colonial enterprises. This article, therefore, revisits Catherine of Braganza's reputation and character through the lens of the Popish Plot and Exclusion Crisis, and how Catherine's place in the Popish Plot narrative influenced England's international relationship with Portugal.

Anti-gender politics in Finland and Romania

This study examines the articulation of anti-gender politics in the parliamentary debates centred on two citizens’ initiatives in Finland and Romania. Although different in their endeavours (in Finland, supporting equal marriage rights; in Romania, attempting to legislate pre-emptively against them), these citizens’ initiatives resulted in significant defeats for the wider anti-gender campaigns in these countries. Examining closely the parliamentary debates ensuing these proposals, we evidence how anti-gender politics developed in ways specific to each examined polity and served as a key vehicle for different manners of retrogressive mobilisation, which bypassed left–right ideological cleavages and party loyalty. We scrutinise critically the discursive scenarios that coalesce in anti-gender politics in the two countries, and we map out both the commonalities and differences between the antithetic narrative scenarios, which hinge on the position of the child within a heteronormative nuclear family and the depiction of marriage equality as a harbinger of an impending societal collapse.

Native and non-native variation in adverbial and adjectival intensification: A corpus-based study of UK and Ghanaian parliamentary debates

Studies on the use of adverbs and adjectives by nonnative speakers of English have largely focused on learner corpus. Using Hansards of British and Ghanaian parliamentary debates as data, this paper attempts to partly fill this gap by comparatively examining the use of adverbs and adjectives as intensifiers by British parliamentarians as first/native speakers of English and Ghanaian parliamentarians as second language/non-native speakers of English. Parliamentarians’ use of adverbial and adjectival intensification is consequent on parliamentary debates being truth and validity judgement, which includes speaker involvement and commitment. While both groups of MPs employ intensifiers to strengthen their convictions and arguments, it leads to exaggeration. However, the British parliamentarians use more complex adverbs and adjectives than their Ghanaian counterparts, who use simpler forms. The paper has implications for second language teaching and learning, the theory of nativisation and the characterisation of Ghanaian English.

Gagasan Lee Kuan Yew dalam Perjuangan Konsep Malaysian Malaysia: Persoalan Tentang Kedudukan Hak Keistimewaan Orang Melayu

The Malaysian Malaysia concept is an idea for nation-building efforts that was initiated by Lee Kuan Yew. This concept received support from multiracial political parties by forming a coalition known as the Malaysian Solidarity Convention (MSC). Beside that, there was a reaction of opposition from Malay political leaders, who consider this concept to threaten the special position of the Malays. Therefore, there is a question about the special position of the Malays in the Malaysian Malaysia concept. This is because this concept aims to fight for the formation of a nation based on racial diversity and against the dominance of a race. However, Lee Kuan Yew tried to emphasise that the Malaysian Malaysia concept does not intend to oppose the special rights. So, the objective of this study is to analyse whether the concept of Malaysian Malaysia aims to oppose Malay special rights. Views on the issue of a special position were also evaluated based on the views of UMNO leaders. This research used a history methodology to analyse such documents as DO 169/526, DO 169/529, DO 169/530 Parliamentary Debates Official Reports. Lee Kuan Yew’s stance on the special position of the Malays is somewhat ambiguous and contradictory. Lee Kuan Yew’s efforts to restore the negative view of Malay leaders towards the Malaysian Malaysia concept have had no effect. UMNO leaders have their own arguments for believing that the concept of Malaysian Malaysia aims to oppose the special position of the Malays.

Framing the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comparison of Political and Media Framing During the First Three Waves in Germany

ABSTRACT The study focuses on the framing of the COVID-19 pandemic in German parliamentary debates and media reports. It concentrates on the first three pandemic waves. The goal is not only to compare political and media framing, but also to show how frames changed from wave to wave. A content analysis of plenary protocols and articles from Welt Online and SZ Online has been carried out, coding single frame elements instead of complete frames, which are instead formed through cluster analyses. Results show that there are differences between government and opposition framing of the pandemic, with the opposition parties criticising the government’s crisis management, while the governing parties justified their policies. Concerning the relationship between media and political framing, findings indicate that similar frames are used in both arenas. Nevertheless, differences in frequency are evident. The results show no evidence to support the assumption that frames of the governing parties are picked up more frequently by the media. Moreover, there are no signs of frame alignment between political actors and the media in the early stages of the pandemic nor of a diversification thereafter.

What was David Cameron Thinking? Thoughts of a British Prime Minister Regarding Brexit

The aim of my research is to examine what David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was thinking all the way through the process of the UK’s secession from the European Union: why he made certain decisions and what influenced him. In order to do that, I use speeches, parliamentary debates, and memoirs, including several interviews with the former PM. The research methodology primarily uses the tools of discourse analysis: I examine the semantic elements, words, sentences and other characteristics of the political discourse, paying attention to the strategic structure of speech modes. By interpreting his political thinking and analysing his speeches, I wish to examine the impact of this leading politician on his own party’s and the electorate’s views on the EU. Understanding this can help to interpret the relationship between Britain and Europe, and perhaps in part, give an answer as to why the British chose to continue outside the Union. Based on this, we can also try to assess what this relationship will look like in the future.

Covid-19 and free movement restrictions in the Nordic countries – how did Finnish and Swedish MPs justify and criticise border controls?

ABSTRACT The article analyses political approaches in Finland and Sweden towards free movement restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Border closures were previously unthinkable in the Norden, where borders have been open since the establishment of the Nordic Passport Union in the 1950s. For decades, Nordics have been used to cross borders on a daily basis, especially in the so-called twin cities in the border regions. The article analyses Finnish and Swedish parliamentary debates on the Nordic border restrictions from the perspective of the arguments on the basis of which the restrictions are defended or criticised. While the Finnish MPs supported the restrictions that were considered a direct consequence of Covid-19, the Swedish MPs criticised the other Nordic governments for their uncoordinated restrictions. In both debates, Nordic-free movement is not discussed in connection with EU rules but is seen to precede the establishment of free movement within the European Union.

Protect or punish debtors? Policymaker discourse on the state’s role in personal debt governance

ABSTRACT Personal debt is a device increasing one’s agency but embedded within moral and legal frameworks that constructs people as individualised financial subjects. This article aims to enrich research on the state role in (subject) financialisation through a focus on personal debt governance modes as constructed in policymaker discourse on the state role in personal debt regulation. Our argument is contextualised in the Czech Republic, where, in 2021, 10 per cent of the adult population faced legal debt enforcement, significantly disrupting their economic situation. Through an analysis of 84 parliamentary debate transcripts and 32 regulatory impact assessment documents related to consumer credit and debt relief laws, we illustrate the ambivalence and complexity of debt governance and state roles. Although two main state roles were enacted – punitive and protective – the policymaker discourse forms a continuum of sorts, blending various moral logics, ascribing multiple responsibilities (individual, state and private actors) and intensively negotiating the category of debtor deservingness. We argue that by accenting financial education as a tool to solve perceived market failures (predatory lending), the financialised logic and structures are reaffirmed, albeit leaving certain discursive spaces for renegotiation and potential resistance against such state functions.

Regulating liminality: Making sense of the vegetative state and defining the limits of end-of-life action.

Persistently alive but unaware, vegetative state patients are stuck in the transition between life and death - that is, in a liminal hotspot. This condition raises complex ethical and legal dilemmas concerning end-of-life action. Drawing on social representations (SRs) and the liminality framework, our research investigated how the vegetative state was constructed within the Italian parliamentary debates discussing end-of-life bills (2009-2017). We aimed to understand (1) how political groups represented the vegetative state, (2) how they legitimised different end-of-life bills and (3) came to terms with the issue of liminal hotspots. By dialogically analysing three debates (No. of interventions = 98), we identified six themes and discursive aims allowing parliamentarians to differently represent the vegetative state and support different courses of action. In turn, we identified new features of the psycho-social processes generating SRs: the dialogical tensions between anchoring and de-anchoring. Results corroborated the idea that de-paradoxifying liminality relies on group sense-making and, thus, different political leanings differently addressed the liminality of the vegetative state. We also reveal a novel feature of dealing with liminal hotspots informing the psycho-social literature that applies when a decision needs to be taken, such as in the case of crafting a law: moving from the paradox.

In search for more ‘authentic’ EU attitudes: re-evaluating regionalist parties’ EU positioning from sub-state parliamentary debates

ABSTRACT This paper responds to the tendency of past scholarship to reduce European Union (EU) attitudes of regionalist parties to one general position. It undertakes a comprehensive analysis of regionalist parties’ EU attitudes from sub-state parliamentary debates. Drawing on three different cases from three territorial contexts – Plaid Cymru, Femu a Corsica and Süd-Tiroler Freiheit, it systematically captures the content and nature of regionalist parties’ EU positioning from EU-related interventions in regional parliaments over a recent five-year period (2016–21). The paper finds that regionalist parties simultaneously adopt a distinct position on multiple EU-related issues (with varying salience and clarity). Importantly, each party constructs its EU attitudes around diametrically different issues, closely intertwined with its regional empowerment strategy and reflecting the unique regional context. Moreover, each party displays contradictory tendencies in its EU support, adopting Europhile positions on some issues, while Eurosceptic on others. This contribution is significant in two ways. First, the thematic variability identified within and across the cases provides an original insight into the full scope and scale of regionalist parties’ engagement with the EU at a given moment. Second, this in-depth qualitative analysis based on novel data advances past methodologies while challenging their conclusiveness about the regionalist parties’ actual EU support.

Repackaging in South–North Policy Learning: The Chilean Model of Pension Reform as a Lopsided Exportschlager

South–North policy learning faces many obstacles and often leads to missed opportunities or distorted translations. Given the pariah nature of the Chilean dictatorship, international learning happened against all odds. Drawing on several sources – media content, parliamentary debates, and some background interviews – the article illustrates how the Chilean pension reform became “repackaged” in two ways. First, it was concealed, meaning proponents avoided referencing Chile. Second, it was imperfectly translated, which led to several distortions, such as avoiding a reflection on the political prerequisites for stable pension reforms. Some general lessons are derived for South–North policy learning.

Literature in Politics

The relationship between English Literature and Politics has, historically, been understated and underexplored in academia. This article recognises the value of this relationship, significantly contributing to the field through original research which explores the political appropriation of literature. Using politicians’ references to George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four in parliamentary debate as a precedent, this research shows how fiction is used as a strategy of political argument. In supporting this claim, this research engages with the rising approach of Rhetorical Political Analysis, and wider theory which views political rhetoric as argumentation.

‘Battleship at the port of Europe’: Italy's closed-port policy and its legitimizing narratives

From March 2018 to August 2019, during Matteo Salvini's mandate as Minister of the Interior, Italy implemented the so-called ‘closed-port policy’, the closure of Italy's ports to migrant-rescue ships. This policy was initially pursued by Salvini's direct will through circulars before being justified ex-post by a legislative act. This paper analyses the lively parliamentary debates around rescue at sea in order to illustrate the majority's discursive rationales in support of the closed-port policy and its transformation into law. Theoretically, this work adopts a multidisciplinary perspective which combines the works on critique and justification (Boltanski, Thévenot 2006; Boltanski, 2011) with those on legitimacy (Schulze, 2015) to speak to the political geography debate concerning border and migration regimes. These literatures enable the paper to innovatively approach the crucial role of parliaments as conflictual arenas which require governing majorities to enact specific legitimation strategies. By adopting this perspective, this work sheds light on the disputed rationale of migration policies while exploring how legitimation practices worked within the Italian Parliament. My argument unfolds in three main stages: first, the article examines the genealogy of the closed-port policy; second, it explores the legitimation strategies put in place by the majority in order to justify its policy and law; and last, it looks at how specific geographical imaginaries underpin the main narratives constructed through these different legitimation strategies.

Podkarpatští Rusíni v diskuzích poslanců poslanecké sněmovny meziválečné Československé republiky

The paper presents a very different view of the Rusyn question in inter-war Czechoslovakia through the eyes of Rusyn representatives from across the spectrum of political parties in the Czechoslovak parliament. Although Subcarpathian Rus and its inhabitants were often idealised in Czechoslovakia for their unspoilt nature and patriarchal character, and Czechoslovak public opinion was very favourable towards the region, some Rusyn politicians certainly did not share this ideal. The Communist deputies in particular criticised all government policies and the persistence of general backwardness, but the question of the region’s autonomy was probably the most prominent among the Czechoslovak deputies representing Subcarpathian Rus. The paper highlights four main issues that emerged most frequently in the parliamentary debates: the quest for autonomy, the solution to the poor economic situation, the situation in education and disputes over the use of the language, and the dual treatment of Rusyns living in Slovakia and in Subcarpathian Rus.