Who gets to speak for the party? How parliamentary party groups select spokespersons
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6301464 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Tim A Mickler (0000-0002-2727-5173, Leiden University), Tim Mickler (Institute of Political Science Leiden University Leiden The Netherlands), Simon Otje (0000-0002-8928-7591, Institute of Political Science Leiden University Leiden The Netherlands), David M Willumsen (0000-0002-2191-1765, University of Innsbruck Innsbruck Austria, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 50 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Publication date | 2025-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Legislative Studies Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0362-9805 • E-ISSN: 1939-9162 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/lsq.12492 |
| OpenAlex | W4407312206 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 36 |
Members of parliament (MPs), and by extension, parliamentary party groups (PPGs), have to make decisions about all aspects of public policy. In many parliamentary systems, PPGs subdivide the workload and assign one of their members as the spokesperson for a specific policy portfolio. These speak almost exclusively on that issue and are primarily responsible for formulating and articulating their party's position on that issue in parliament. We explore what drives the assignment of MPs as spokespersons for their PPG. Building on the literature on committee assignments, issue competition, and floor access in legislatures, we argue that the assignment of spokespersons should be understood as a process in which party leaders seek to balance the interests of their parties with the demands of individual MPs. We analyze a database covering the parliamentary and preparliamentary careers of Danish MPs (2011–2019), their electoral results, as well as the full text of floor speeches on legislation in this period. Our analysis sheds important light on how PPGs function. The results show that while the PPG leadership can sanction MPs who do not support the party line, the advantages for a PPG from having high‐quality spokespersons means that the leaderships' hands are, to a large extent, tied
Business · Competition (biology · Law and economics · Legislation · Legislature · Parliament · Political science · Politics · Position (finance · Public relations · Quality (philosophy · Sociology · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Gender Politics and Representation · Law · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Public Administration
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| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |