Parliamentary Discourse

Abstract

Parliamentary discourse is both a category of institutionalized multiparty confrontational political discourses and an expanding field of study. The aim of this article is to identify and outline the discourse‐shaped and discourse‐shaping mechanisms of deliberation, adversariality and polarization that underpin the political negotiation and power struggle carried out in parliament. Highlighting the linguistic and rhetorical dimensions of parliamentary discourse, the focus is on micro‐ and macrolevel investigations of parliamentary debating procedures, parliamentary question–answer patterns, and politeness principles and argumentation strategies across parliaments. The article concludes with final remarks on recent trends and future directions for this field.

“Moroccan youngsters”: category politics in the Netherlands

“…Parliamentary debate is a central forum for public communication that politicians use to reach and influence the public and which provides the opportunity to voice the views of the people they represent and the concerns of voters (Proksch & Slapin, ). Interactions in parliament display the different party political standpoints, ideological visions, institutional positions, and political agendas of members of parliament (MPs), whose should act on behalf of their constituency (Ilie, ). Parliamentarians present different, and sometimes contradictory, standpoints and representations of reality.…”

“…Parliamentarians present different, and sometimes contradictory, standpoints and representations of reality. By offering their own political initiatives and proposals, MPs want to affect the public understanding of problems, influence attitudes and beliefs, and attract voters (Ilie, ).…”

“…Politicians have the power to define policy problems, promote certain problem (representations) and the resolutions they favour most. By doing so they produce knowledge and subject positions, create categories and boundaries (Ilie, ). The language and descriptors used to construct problems and problem categories have normative implications and may serve to in‐ or exclude people.…”

Pragmatics of Political Blame in British and Iraqi Parliaments

“…In his discussion of the parliamentary discourse genre from a pragma-linguistic perspective, Ilie (2015) argued that it "belongs to the wider field of political discourse. Hence it displays particular institutionalized discursive features and complies with a number of specific rules and conventions" (p. 2).…”

“…Ilie (2015) went on to view parliamentary discourse from a rhetorical perspective saying that it "belongs to the deliberative genre of political rhetoric, which is defined as an oratorical discourse targeting an audience that is asked to make a decision by evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of a future course of action" (p. 3). In their attempts to verbalize their opinions and beliefs in the best ways when engaging in parliamentary debates, parliamentarians tend to constantly utilize their rhetorical skills and, as Ilie (2015) phrases it, "take advantage of institutional practices in order to score points by exploiting each other's weaknesses and vulnerabilities" (p. 2). Hence, it is often believed that parliamentarians act in adversarial ways, especially in their debates over issues of vital national importance.…”