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Simply Speaking? Language Complexity among (Non-)Populist Actors in Parliamentary Debates

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  • Kittel, Rebecca C.

Abstract

Do populist politicians use simpler language to get closer to ‘ordinary’ citizens? Current studies – both qualitative and quantitative – are divided on whether populist actors actually use simpler language. Analysing a large corpus of text of German parliamentary debates from January 1991 to September 2021, this article aims to resolve this controversy by measuring language complexity in parliamentary discourse. The article hypothesizes that populist actors use simpler language, following their ideal of a simplified world between ‘good’ and ‘evil’. The analysis, however, positively refutes that, and instead shows that right-wing populist actors use the most complex language. Left-wing populists seem to use somewhat average language complexity. At the same time, the study finds that language complexity decreased significantly in the German parliament over time. Additionally, this article shows that language complexity is context-specific and people-dependent. As such, this article also discusses simple language as a tool for substantive and surrogate representation.

Suggested Citation

  • Kittel, Rebecca C., 2025. "Simply Speaking? Language Complexity among (Non-)Populist Actors in Parliamentary Debates," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 60(4), pages 1336-1366.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:espost:334719
    DOI: 10.1017/gov.2025.4
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paris Aslanidis, 2018. "Measuring populist discourse with semantic text analysis: an application on grassroots populist mobilization," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 52(3), pages 1241-1263, May.
    2. Kenneth Benoit & Kevin Munger & Arthur Spirling, 2019. "Measuring and Explaining Political Sophistication through Textual Complexity," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 63(2), pages 491-508, April.
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