Legislatures provide a context for political dialogue between parties. Party members use floor debates to raise different issues; however, little is known of issue content. Parliamentary debates in many legislatures have been institutionalized, evident in the structured discussions of government initiatives between the PM and the opposition party leaders. While these debates might seem sterile to many, they set the recurring political agenda and eventually affect elections. Therefore, it is important to ask if MPs raise issues important to their constituency, their party, or their personal agenda. This paper examines parliamentary debates in order to understand what issues MP's of different parties raise and with what purposes. Drawing on a quantitative text analysis of parliamentary debates in Spain, combined with survey and electoral data, I analyze party leaders’ behavior in the choice of which issues to discuss. I show that discussing party owned issues increases positive evaluations of debate participation.
