Analysing Crisis Parliamentary Discourse in Greece: Whom Should We Blame?

Abstract

This article analyses differences in the varieties of political rhetoric on structuring and legitimizing argumentation and strategies during periods of economic and political crisis. Driven by developments in theory about blame-shifting and the exogenization of the causes of crisis as well as employing advanced techniques of analysis, it focuses on the parliamentary bailout debates in Greece during the crisis period (2009–2015). By means of computer-assisted content analysis it analyses the content of arguments on blame-shifting. It shows that blame-shifting is much more complex that just blaming the external enemy and often takes the form of historical blame-shifting, turning the blame onto previous governments. It reveals that party leaders often use a much more polemic discourse than members of parliament. Finally, it shows that blame-shifting diminishes once a party comes to power, following arguments on representative versus responsible government.