Gender and reactions to speeches in German parliamentary debates
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Author / Producer
Date
2025-07
Publication Type
Journal Article
ETH Bibliography
yes
OPEN ACCESS
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Abstract
Are nonverbal reactions during parliamentary debate gendered? Do male and female members of parliament (MPs) experience applause or jeering differently? In short, yes, and the gendered nature of a speech matters. Using an original corpus of over 544,000 speeches given in German state parliaments, we first estimate the gendered nature of parliamentary speeches and then examine how reactions to speeches given by male and female MPs differ. Female and male MPs receive similarly positive and negative reactions to their speeches on average, but they receive different reactions depending on the gendered nature of the speeches. Speeches using language associated with women's topics receive fewer reactions overall and even fewer when delivered by men. The gendered nature of parliamentary interjections could affect how women MPs view their position and how women voters view parliament.
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Publication status
published
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Book title
Journal / series
Volume
69 (3)
Pages / Article No.
866 - 880
Publisher
Wiley
Event
Edition / version
Methods
Software
Geographic location
Date collected
Date created
Subject
Organisational unit
09627 - Ash, Elliott / Ash, Elliott