Public Opinion and Emphatic Legislative Speech

Evidence from an Automated Video Analysis

Bibliographic Data

ID6227635
AuthorsOliver Rittmann (0000-0001-7707-9835, University of Mannheim, corresponding author), Tobias Ringwald (Independent researcher), Dominic Nyhuis (0000-0001-6790-4117, Institute for Political Science, Leibniz University Hannover)
Year2025
Volume55
Publication date2025-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBritish Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-1234 • E-ISSN: 1469-2112
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0007123425100872
OpenAlexW7106157547
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited57

Why do politicians sometimes deliver passionate speeches and sometimes tedious monologues? Even though the delivery is key to understanding political speech, we know little about when and why political actors choose particular delivery styles. Focusing on legislative speech, we expect legislators to deliver more emphatic speeches when their vote is aligned with the preferences of their constituents. To test this proposition, we develop and apply an automated video analysis model to speech recordings from the US House of Representatives. We match the speech emphasis with district preferences on key bills using data from the Cooperative Congressional Election Study. We find that House members who rise in opposition to a bill give more passionate speeches when public preferences are aligned with their vote. The results suggest that political actors are not only mindful of public opinion in what they say but also in how they say it

Key (lock · Legislature · Opposition (politics · Politics · Public opinion · Test (biology · Voting · Computational and Text Analysis Methods · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Media Influence and Politics

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