Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP17270
Authors: W. Walker Hanlon
Abstract: This article develops a method for quantitatively tracking the agenda of the British Parliament -- by which I mean the substantive topics on which Parliamentary debate was focused -- from 1810-2005 using descriptions of 1.7 million Parliamentary debates from the Parliamentary Hansard. This provides a new tool for analyzing the evolution of the British political system across nearly two centuries. I describe and validate this new measure and then present an application that focuses on assessing the influence of the party in government on the Parliamentary agenda.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: N4; H1
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Party in government (D72) | Parliamentary agenda (reactive role) (D72) |
| Economic downturns (E32) | Parliamentary agenda (D72) |
| Party in government (D72) | Agenda changes (D72) |
| Labour Party (J59) | Discussions related to workers (J83) |
| Party control changes (D72) | Short-run agenda churn (D72) |
| Government influence (H10) | Policy outcomes (D78) |