Analysing Calls to Order in German Parliamentary Debates

TL;DR

This study systematically investigates calls to order in German parliamentary debates, introducing a new dataset, detection method, and analysis of factors influencing incivility signals over 72 years.

Contribution

It presents the first rule-based detection method, a comprehensive annotated dataset, and an analysis of social and procedural factors affecting calls to order in parliamentary debates.

Findings

Calls to order are influenced by session presidents and parliamentary dynamics.

Male and opposition members receive more calls to order than females and coalition members.

Most calls to order are triggered by insults towards individuals.

Abstract

Parliamentary debate constitutes a central arena of political power, shaping legislative outcomes and public discourse. Incivility within this arena signals political polarization and institutional conflict. This study presents a systematic investigation of incivility in the German Bundestag by examining calls to order (CtO; plural: CtOs) as formal indicators of norm violations. Despite their relevance, CtOs have received little systematic attention in parliamentary research. We introduce a rule-based method for detecting and annotating CtOs in parliamentary speeches and present a novel dataset of German parliamentary debates spanning 72 years that includes annotated CtO instances. Additionally, we develop the first classification system for CtO triggers and analyze the factors associated with their occurrence. Our findings show that, despite formal regulations, the issuance of CtOs is partly subjective and influenced by session presidents and parliamentary dynamics, with certain individuals disproportionately affected. An insult towards individuals is the most frequent cause of CtO. In general, male members and those belonging to opposition parties receive more calls to order than their female and coalition-party counterparts. Most CtO triggers were detected in speeches dedicated to governmental affairs and actions of the presidency. The CtO triggers dataset is available at: https://github.com/kalawinka/cto_analysis.