Practice makes 'perfect'? The effect of committee specialization on the complexity of parliamentary speeches.

The article examines how membership and tenure in parliamentary committees influence the linguistic complexity of speeches by Members of Parliament (MPs) in the Czech Chamber of Deputies from 2006 to 2021. Using the Flesch Reading Ease formula adapted for Czech, the study finds that MPs speaking on issues related to their committee work use more complex language, with complexity increasing alongside committee tenure. This effect is stronger for MPs without a prior professional background related to the committee’s topic, indicating a professionalization process within committees that shapes MPs’ speech complexity. The research also highlights that factors such as education, party affiliation, and parliamentary role affect speech complexity, while the expected simplification of language by populist parties is not consistently observed. These findings contribute to understanding how parliamentary specialization impacts elite communication and its potential effects on voter comprehension.