Parliamentary Talk and Procedures

Chapter 3 analyzes the procedures governing parliamentary activity on the floor and suggests the use of the phrase “parliamentary talk” to encompass the legislators’ speeches, debates, parliamentary questions, and motions. The analysis of the procedures is based on the degree of constraint involved in using each parliamentary tool and the obstacles, quotas, and limitations legislators face when they want to use the parliamentary tools available to them. In addition, the analysis also considers the visibility of the parliamentary tool and the degree of proactivity it provides a legislator. The framework for analyzing the procedures that presented in the chapter is the baseline for Israeli legislators in their decision to use a specific parliamentary tool or to speak on the floor. Hence, the parliamentary talk on the floor can present with us a comprehensive picture of the daily work of Arab Palestinian minority legislators and how they represent their Arab voters.