Complex Politics: A Quantitative Semantic and Topological Analysis of UK House of Commons Debates

Stefano Gurciullo; Michael Smallegan; María Pereda; Federico Battiston; Alice Patania; Sebastian Poledna; Daniel Hedblom; Bahattin Tolga Oztan; Alexander Herzog; Peter John; Slava Mikhaylov

Complex Politics: A Quantitative Semantic and Topological Analysis of UK House of Commons Debates

Stefano Gurciullo, Michael Smallegan, María Pereda, Federico Battiston, Alice Patania, Sebastian Poledna, Daniel Hedblom, Bahattin Tolga Oztan, Alexander Herzog, Peter John, Slava Mikhaylov

Government

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Abstract

This study is a first, exploratory attempt to use quantitative semantics techniques and topological analysis to analyze systemic patterns arising in a complex political system. In particular, we use a rich data set covering all speeches and debates in the UK House of Commons between 1975 and 2014. By the use of dynamic topic modeling (DTM) and topological data analysis (TDA) we show that both members and parties feature specific roles within the system, consistent over time, and extract global patterns indicating levels of political cohesion. Our results provide a wide array of novel hypotheses about the complex dynamics of political systems, with valuable policy applications.

Original language	English
Publication status	Published - 13 Oct 2015

Keywords

physics.soc-ph
cs.CL
cs.SI
91F10

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1510.03797v1

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AU - Smallegan, Michael

AU - Pereda, María

AU - Battiston, Federico

AU - Patania, Alice

AU - Poledna, Sebastian

AU - Hedblom, Daniel

AU - Oztan, Bahattin Tolga

AU - Herzog, Alexander

AU - John, Peter

AU - Mikhaylov, Slava

PY - 2015/10/13

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N2 - This study is a first, exploratory attempt to use quantitative semantics techniques and topological analysis to analyze systemic patterns arising in a complex political system. In particular, we use a rich data set covering all speeches and debates in the UK House of Commons between 1975 and 2014. By the use of dynamic topic modeling (DTM) and topological data analysis (TDA) we show that both members and parties feature specific roles within the system, consistent over time, and extract global patterns indicating levels of political cohesion. Our results provide a wide array of novel hypotheses about the complex dynamics of political systems, with valuable policy applications.

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KW - cs.SI

KW - 91F10

M3 - Preprint

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Complex Politics: A Quantitative Semantic and Topological Analysis of UK House of Commons Debates

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Keywords

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