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<p>For the first time, we analyse the role of future topics in Bundestag speeches between 1949 and 2021 using computational linguistic methods. The results show that the discourse on future issues in the Bundestag rose sharply in parallel with the “Wirtschaftswunder” between the 1960s and 1990s. However, since the global financial crisis of 2008, the Bundestag has lost its future focus. An algorithmic content analysis explains this phenomenon: Recent Bundestag speeches deal more with the short-term challenges of multiple crises and less with long-term frameworks.</p>
</abstract>

For the first time, we analyse the role of future topics in Bundestag speeches between 1949 and 2021 using computational linguistic methods. The results show that the discourse on future issues in the Bundestag rose sharply in parallel with the “Wirtschaftswunder” between the 1960s and 1990s. However, since the global financial crisis of 2008, the Bundestag has lost its future focus. An algorithmic content analysis explains this phenomenon: Recent Bundestag speeches deal more with the short-term challenges of multiple crises and less with long-term frameworks.

What Role Does the Future Play in Bundestag Speeches?

Wirtschaftsdienst

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Welche Rolle spielt das Thema Zukunft im Bundestag?

For the first time, we analyse the role of future topics in Bundestag speeches between 1949 and 2021 using computational linguistic methods. The results show...

What Role Does the Future Play in Bundestag Speeches?

Published Online: Apr 20, 2024

Page range: 252 - 257

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/wd-2024-0069

© 2024 Anselm Küsters et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.