Credit Claiming Through Omission

Multilevel systems provide significant opportunities for credit claiming. Yet empirical studies focus exclusively on how incumbents claim credit by cultivating an impression of influence, for example appropriating federal funds for state level projects. In this article, I consider an equally pernicious form of credit claiming: omission, whereby state level representatives fail to recognise other levels of government for shared achievements. I test my theoretical argument in Europe’s multilevel system with speeches by (member) state-level ministers in their national legislatures. Through an analysis of over 100,000 speeches in Germany and Spain, I show that for issue of shared competence, when a speech is positive it is significantly less likely to mention the EU. Findings have implication for democratic accountability and shed light on a widespread but under-examined rhetorical strategy employed by incumbents in multilevel settings.