Abstract

Electoral autocracies give the semblance of democracy but remain inherently autocratic. What roles do legislators play in this context? How does it shape their behaviour? Do dynamics inside parliament affect political behaviour such as public dissent in constituencies? We use various text-as-data techniques to collect original data on all questions asked during query sessions in the lower house of the Parliament of Zimbabwe between September 2015 through July 2023 and enrich them with background information on legislators and ministers to explore these questions. We find that each question is structured along three dimensions: its focus (local vs national), level of disapproval, and scope (service requests versus pertinent concerns critical to the regime). We show that legislators strategically choose and frame their questions accordingly depending on their political affiliation and entailed risks, intraparty rank, and electoral incentives. Our insights improve our knowledge of legislative politics in electoral autocracies.

Reference

Felix Dwinger, “Question Times in Electoral Autocracies: Insights from Zimbabwe”, IAST Lunch Seminar, Toulouse: IAST, June 28, 2024, 12:45–13:45, room Auditorium 4 (First floor - TSE Building).