When is democracy spoken about in the plenary?
Sixteen chambers, year by year, per million words spoken.
Portugal
Spain
Ecuador
Argentina
Uruguay
Mexico
Paraguay
Chile
Costa Rica
Peru
Panama
Colombia
Guatemala
Dominican Republic
Brazil
El Salvador
- Portugal: 2,533 · 1976
- Spain: 1,647 · 1977
- Ecuador: 1,049 · 1980
- Argentina: 1,510 · 1983
- Uruguay: 580 · 1986
- Mexico: 2,614 · 1991
- Paraguay: 973 · 1989
- Chile: 1,098 · 1990
- Costa Rica: 993 · 1999
- Peru: 576 · 2022
- Panama: 703 · 2011
- Colombia: 1,259 · 2017
- Guatemala: 434 · 2015
- Dominican Republic: 567 · 2023
- Brazil: 961 · 2016
- El Salvador: 358 · 2020
It counts how often the word and its derivatives are said, over the words spoken in that chamber and that year. The count does not say who invokes it, or whether to defend it or to deny it; the text of those interventions does, and it is all here. Next to the highest year is what happened that year, where it was a regime event: coinciding is not explaining.
A chamber's highest year is hardly ever an ordinary one. Where the series begins with the return of democracy, the highest year is the first; in the others it falls in the middle of the series. The word rises when it is contested.
How much of what deputies say in the plenary is said by women deputies?
Sixteen chambers, each against itself, by decade, in words.
Portugal
Spain
Ecuador
Argentina
Uruguay
Mexico
Paraguay
Chile
Costa Rica
Peru
Panama
Colombia
Guatemala
Dominican Republic
Brazil
El Salvador
It measures voice, not presence. Sex is assigned by us, with more error for women than for men; five chambers not reviewed by hand are drawn differently. It does not rank countries.
In fifteen of the sixteen chambers, the last decade with data is above the first. It does not rise in all of them: in the Dominican Republic it goes from 18.32% to 11.58%, and in Guatemala it falls before rising again.
- Portugal: 4.40% in its first decade with data; 33.50% in the last.
- Spain: 2.47% in its first decade with data; 42.13% in the last.
- Ecuador: 0.23% in its first decade with data; 40.30% in the last. Unaudited roster.
- Argentina: 0.74% in its first decade with data; 28.80% in the last. Unaudited roster.
- Uruguay: 0.25% in its first decade with data; 23.41% in the last.
- Mexico: 14.31% in its first decade with data; 64.91% in the last.
- Paraguay: 1.21% in its first decade with data; 22.29% in the last.
- Chile: 6.04% in its first decade with data; 26.30% in the last. Unaudited roster.
- Costa Rica: 11.81% in its first decade with data; 43.42% in the last.
- Peru: 13.67% in its first decade with data; 31.55% in the last. Unaudited roster.
- Panama: 10.73% in its first decade with data; 25.44% in the last.
- Colombia: 11.63% in its first decade with data; 21.08% in the last.
- Guatemala: 16.94% in its first decade with data; 21.29% in the last.
- Dominican Republic: 18.32% in its first decade with data; 11.58% in the last.
- Brazil: 8.16% in its first decade with data; 20.73% in the last. Unaudited roster.
- El Salvador: 23.19% in its first decade with data; 35.63% in the last.
It measures voice, not presence. The denominator is the words of deputies of known sex. Sex is assigned by us, with more error for women than for men. The five chambers with an unaudited roster—Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru—are drawn with a different line style.
| Country | Period | words | Of women deputies | Of deputies of known sex |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portugal | 1976–79 | 4.40% | 417,649 | 9,490,002 |
| 1980–89 | 6.02% | 2,033,981 | 33,811,479 | |
| 1990–99 | 10.05% | 2,688,607 | 26,748,967 | |
| 2000–09 | 16.37% | 4,050,670 | 24,750,897 | |
| 2010–19 | 32.50% | 7,901,736 | 24,313,683 | |
| 2020–25 | 33.50% | 4,939,918 | 14,744,562 | |
| Spain | 1977–79 | 2.47% | 171,994 | 6,957,442 |
| 1980–89 | 3.45% | 870,925 | 25,219,651 | |
| 1990–99 | 13.40% | 3,760,199 | 28,062,547 | |
| 2000–09 | 24.90% | 7,148,025 | 28,706,980 | |
| 2010–19 | 30.56% | 7,805,237 | 25,540,474 | |
| 2020–25 | 42.13% | 8,603,279 | 20,419,933 | |
| Ecuador (Not reviewed by hand) | 1979 | 0.23% | 3,953 | 1,729,603 |
| 1980–89 | 1.42% | 292,507 | 20,549,543 | |
| 1990–99 | 4.54% | 1,071,862 | 23,616,868 | |
| 2000–09 | 11.76% | 2,740,550 | 23,311,480 | |
| 2010–19 | 33.11% | 5,112,096 | 15,437,949 | |
| 2020–25 | 40.30% | 3,950,418 | 9,801,985 | |
| Argentina (Not reviewed by hand) | 1983–89 | 0.74% | 185,553 | 25,205,994 |
| 1990–99 | 2.10% | 5,013 | 239,111 | |
| 2000–09 | 16.18% | 4,931,428 | 30,469,254 | |
| 2010–19 | 24.92% | 5,782,681 | 23,205,281 | |
| 2020–25 | 28.80% | 2,727,506 | 9,471,802 | |
| Uruguay | 1985–89 | 0.25% | 31,342 | 12,733,594 |
| 1990–99 | 2.45% | 697,967 | 28,488,302 | |
| 2000–09 | 10.03% | 3,319,670 | 33,087,027 | |
| 2010–19 | 19.72% | 6,145,822 | 31,172,589 | |
| 2020–25 | 23.41% | 4,441,241 | 18,967,908 | |
| Mexico | 1988–89 | 14.31% | 812,894 | 5,682,374 |
| 1990–99 | 17.37% | 3,820,131 | 21,994,326 | |
| 2000–09 | 37.46% | 28,492,280 | 76,070,209 | |
| 2010–19 | 50.94% | 43,060,198 | 84,533,988 | |
| 2020–25 | 64.91% | 21,187,802 | 32,642,730 | |
| Paraguay | 1988–89 | 1.21% | 5,238 | 432,238 |
| 1990–99 | 2.01% | 277,502 | 13,802,228 | |
| 2000–09 | 8.63% | 357,272 | 4,138,788 | |
| 2010–19 | 16.75% | 413,713 | 2,469,304 | |
| 2020–25 | 22.29% | 1,155,003 | 5,181,214 | |
| Chile (Not reviewed by hand) | 1990–99 | 6.04% | 1,567,951 | 25,968,455 |
| 2000–09 | 11.16% | 3,381,613 | 30,297,125 | |
| 2010–19 | 14.65% | 3,964,352 | 27,068,953 | |
| 2020–25 | 26.30% | 5,204,215 | 19,789,583 | |
| Costa Rica | 1994–99 | 11.81% | 1,036,172 | 8,772,729 |
| 2000–09 | 23.37% | 8,011,846 | 34,285,601 | |
| 2010–19 | 23.33% | 8,507,669 | 36,470,866 | |
| 2020–25 | 43.42% | 6,296,258 | 14,499,819 | |
| Peru (Not reviewed by hand) | 1995–99 | 13.67% | 1,970,025 | 14,415,152 |
| 2000–09 | 17.40% | 5,933,906 | 34,094,809 | |
| 2010–19 | 24.52% | 6,424,842 | 26,197,692 | |
| 2020–25 | 31.55% | 5,278,354 | 16,730,178 | |
| Panama | 1996–99 | 10.73% | 924,545 | 8,612,471 |
| 2000–09 | 11.92% | 1,965,522 | 16,485,416 | |
| 2010–19 | 19.22% | 2,525,182 | 13,135,828 | |
| 2020–25 | 25.44% | 1,683,806 | 6,619,535 | |
| Colombia | 2000–09 | 11.63% | 1,290,717 | 11,094,357 |
| 2010–19 | 12.95% | 2,001,260 | 15,457,989 | |
| 2020–25 | 21.08% | 2,682,435 | 12,724,204 | |
| Guatemala | 2000–09 | 16.94% | 2,991,194 | 17,655,162 |
| 2010–19 | 10.20% | 954,772 | 9,364,008 | |
| 2020–26 | 21.29% | 1,487,800 | 6,986,985 | |
| Dominican Republic | 2001–09 | 18.32% | 1,014,799 | 5,539,817 |
| 2010–19 | 19.81% | 979,880 | 4,945,222 | |
| 2020–25 | 11.58% | 383,675 | 3,312,909 | |
| Brazil (Not reviewed by hand) | 2003–09 | 8.16% | 6,122,269 | 75,060,136 |
| 2010–19 | 10.55% | 9,707,697 | 92,050,212 | |
| 2020–25 | 20.73% | 6,696,176 | 32,303,978 | |
| El Salvador | 2018–19 | 23.19% | 600,875 | 2,591,452 |
| 2020–25 | 35.63% | 3,971,087 | 11,146,865 |
| Country | Period | speech turns | Of women deputies | Of deputies of known sex |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portugal | 1976–79 | 3.12% | 2,660 | 85,393 |
| 1980–89 | 4.96% | 15,306 | 308,704 | |
| 1990–99 | 7.37% | 17,238 | 234,049 | |
| 2000–09 | 11.80% | 31,445 | 266,559 | |
| 2010–19 | 28.21% | 71,841 | 254,687 | |
| 2020–25 | 24.02% | 43,287 | 180,242 | |
| Spain | 1977–79 | 0.85% | 311 | 36,447 |
| 1980–89 | 1.56% | 1,582 | 101,648 | |
| 1990–99 | 6.62% | 7,628 | 115,209 | |
| 2000–09 | 43.34% | 48,130 | 111,062 | |
| 2010–19 | 39.25% | 40,320 | 102,736 | |
| 2020–25 | 59.95% | 44,503 | 74,230 | |
| Ecuador (Not reviewed by hand) | 1979 | 0.18% | 30 | 16,474 |
| 1980–89 | 0.81% | 2,018 | 249,221 | |
| 1990–99 | 3.03% | 9,039 | 298,323 | |
| 2000–09 | 10.63% | 21,993 | 206,843 | |
| 2010–19 | 40.27% | 24,249 | 60,222 | |
| 2020–25 | 37.59% | 17,018 | 45,269 | |
| Argentina (Not reviewed by hand) | 1983–89 | 1.34% | 973 | 72,697 |
| 1990–99 | 1.77% | 21 | 1,184 | |
| 2000–09 | 20.98% | 12,231 | 58,309 | |
| 2010–19 | 27.00% | 14,410 | 53,363 | |
| 2020–25 | 25.41% | 11,619 | 45,729 | |
| Uruguay | 1985–89 | 0.40% | 209 | 52,614 |
| 1990–99 | 3.34% | 3,699 | 110,691 | |
| 2000–09 | 11.38% | 12,563 | 110,412 | |
| 2010–19 | 18.24% | 14,663 | 80,396 | |
| 2020–25 | 21.42% | 10,885 | 50,826 | |
| Mexico | 1988–89 | 11.26% | 1,875 | 16,652 |
| 1990–99 | 16.59% | 8,939 | 53,868 | |
| 2000–09 | 33.10% | 47,977 | 144,960 | |
| 2010–19 | 37.16% | 84,518 | 227,474 | |
| 2020–25 | 63.96% | 104,812 | 163,867 | |
| Paraguay | 1988–89 | 0.44% | 20 | 4,522 |
| 1990–99 | 1.12% | 1,768 | 157,799 | |
| 2000–09 | 5.70% | 2,411 | 42,320 | |
| 2010–19 | 8.32% | 2,246 | 26,993 | |
| 2020–25 | 8.96% | 3,947 | 44,063 | |
| Chile (Not reviewed by hand) | 1990–99 | 4.96% | 8,078 | 163,017 |
| 2000–09 | 10.70% | 12,914 | 120,650 | |
| 2010–19 | 14.64% | 19,867 | 135,743 | |
| 2020–25 | 23.54% | 25,843 | 109,804 | |
| Costa Rica | 1994–99 | 13.22% | 4,221 | 31,919 |
| 2000–09 | 23.33% | 31,773 | 136,173 | |
| 2010–19 | 25.42% | 34,298 | 134,949 | |
| 2020–25 | 40.99% | 23,091 | 56,339 | |
| Peru (Not reviewed by hand) | 1995–99 | 18.93% | 15,278 | 80,708 |
| 2000–09 | 17.27% | 42,701 | 247,223 | |
| 2010–19 | 24.62% | 52,372 | 212,704 | |
| 2020–25 | 34.31% | 73,149 | 213,199 | |
| Panama | 1996–99 | 9.79% | 6,975 | 71,264 |
| 2000–09 | 18.26% | 20,205 | 110,667 | |
| 2010–19 | 17.24% | 18,445 | 107,008 | |
| 2020–25 | 26.86% | 15,009 | 55,884 | |
| Colombia | 2000–09 | 10.08% | 6,426 | 63,752 |
| 2010–19 | 8.72% | 10,028 | 114,955 | |
| 2020–25 | 17.86% | 25,465 | 142,551 | |
| Guatemala | 2000–09 | 10.26% | 13,976 | 136,187 |
| 2010–19 | 6.95% | 4,595 | 66,112 | |
| 2020–26 | 25.64% | 10,336 | 40,318 | |
| Dominican Republic | 2001–09 | 20.19% | 9,197 | 45,563 |
| 2010–19 | 21.62% | 7,101 | 32,843 | |
| 2020–25 | 10.53% | 2,260 | 21,457 | |
| Brazil (Not reviewed by hand) | 2003–09 | 4.21% | 22,015 | 522,720 |
| 2010–19 | 9.05% | 70,871 | 783,295 | |
| 2020–25 | 16.65% | 51,836 | 311,367 | |
| El Salvador | 2018–19 | 16.28% | 2,108 | 12,946 |
| 2020–25 | 20.30% | 7,090 | 34,919 |
| Country | Period | women speakers | Of women deputies | Of deputies of known sex |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portugal | 1976–79 | 5.45% | 18 | 330 |
| 1980–89 | 8.31% | 67 | 806 | |
| 1990–99 | 12.69% | 82 | 646 | |
| 2000–09 | 25.57% | 158 | 618 | |
| 2010–19 | 34.93% | 219 | 627 | |
| 2020–25 | 37.75% | 225 | 596 | |
| Spain | 1977–79 | 5.75% | 23 | 400 |
| 1980–89 | 7.44% | 54 | 726 | |
| 1990–99 | 20.68% | 147 | 711 | |
| 2000–09 | 37.79% | 274 | 725 | |
| 2010–19 | 42.52% | 381 | 896 | |
| 2020–25 | 43.96% | 273 | 621 | |
| Ecuador (Not reviewed by hand) | 1979 | 3.05% | 4 | 131 |
| 1980–89 | 4.74% | 28 | 591 | |
| 1990–99 | 8.87% | 88 | 992 | |
| 2000–09 | 23.23% | 226 | 973 | |
| 2010–19 | 36.23% | 175 | 483 | |
| 2020–25 | 38.99% | 193 | 495 | |
| Argentina (Not reviewed by hand) | 1983–89 | 4.11% | 17 | 414 |
| 1990–99 | 6.59% | 6 | 91 | |
| 2000–09 | 31.65% | 201 | 635 | |
| 2010–19 | 38.11% | 279 | 732 | |
| 2020–25 | 43.44% | 202 | 465 | |
| Uruguay | 1985–89 | 4.71% | 9 | 191 |
| 1990–99 | 10.61% | 40 | 377 | |
| 2000–09 | 15.89% | 68 | 428 | |
| 2010–19 | 27.03% | 130 | 481 | |
| 2020–25 | 36.56% | 170 | 465 | |
| Mexico | 1988–89 | 12.09% | 48 | 397 |
| 1990–99 | 14.89% | 214 | 1,437 | |
| 2000–09 | 24.87% | 565 | 2,272 | |
| 2010–19 | 40.87% | 945 | 2,312 | |
| 2020–25 | 49.29% | 734 | 1,489 | |
| Paraguay | 1988–89 | 4.62% | 3 | 65 |
| 1990–99 | 2.94% | 7 | 238 | |
| 2000–09 | 8.57% | 18 | 210 | |
| 2010–19 | 17.34% | 30 | 173 | |
| 2020–25 | 18.12% | 27 | 149 | |
| Chile (Not reviewed by hand) | 1990–99 | 10.13% | 23 | 227 |
| 2000–09 | 13.51% | 30 | 222 | |
| 2010–19 | 18.37% | 52 | 283 | |
| 2020–25 | 29.07% | 75 | 258 | |
| Costa Rica | 1994–99 | 18.24% | 29 | 159 |
| 2000–09 | 32.78% | 59 | 180 | |
| 2010–19 | 37.71% | 89 | 236 | |
| 2020–25 | 44.07% | 52 | 118 | |
| Peru (Not reviewed by hand) | 1995–99 | 9.74% | 15 | 154 |
| 2000–09 | 20.22% | 75 | 371 | |
| 2010–19 | 26.32% | 85 | 323 | |
| 2020–25 | 33.00% | 98 | 297 | |
| Panama | 1996–99 | 14.39% | 39 | 271 |
| 2000–09 | 19.13% | 70 | 366 | |
| 2010–19 | 20.75% | 61 | 294 | |
| 2020–25 | 31.66% | 63 | 199 | |
| Colombia | 2000–09 | 11.11% | 36 | 324 |
| 2010–19 | 16.85% | 78 | 463 | |
| 2020–25 | 21.79% | 78 | 358 | |
| Guatemala | 2000–09 | 10.70% | 38 | 355 |
| 2010–19 | 15.74% | 54 | 343 | |
| 2020–26 | 19.69% | 51 | 259 | |
| Dominican Republic | 2001–09 | 18.31% | 65 | 355 |
| 2010–19 | 24.36% | 76 | 312 | |
| 2020–25 | 31.66% | 107 | 338 | |
| Brazil (Not reviewed by hand) | 2003–09 | 8.82% | 82 | 930 |
| 2010–19 | 11.59% | 160 | 1,380 | |
| 2020–25 | 18.36% | 161 | 877 | |
| El Salvador | 2018–19 | 39.46% | 58 | 147 |
| 2020–25 | 40.00% | 98 | 245 |
The words of deputies of known sex, in that chamber and that decade. Those who cannot hold a seat, collective voices, and non-speech rows are not included.
It measures voice, not presence. The denominator is the words of deputies of known sex. Sex is assigned by us, with more error for women than for men. The five chambers with an unaudited roster—Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru—are drawn with a different line style.
CSV and Excel, with their README. These are aggregate data.
- WHAT IT MEASURES
- Of the words spoken in the plenary by deputies, the share spoken by women. One series per chamber and one number per decade. The file also gives the same share in speech turns and in women speakers.
- DENOMINATOR
- The words of deputies of known sex, in that chamber and that decade. Those who cannot hold a seat, collective voices, and non-speech rows are not included.
- CAVEAT
- It measures voice, not presence: read it alongside the series on seats. It is not an official indicator, and it does not rank countries. Sex is assigned by us, with more error for women than for men. We assign it correctly for 99.54% of men and for 97.43% of women, on 38,372 rows reviewed by hand in eleven rosters. In five chambers—Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru—the roster is unaudited, and a column marks it. Turns include the chair; that is why the public measure is words. The series was measured on September 7, 2026 from our working files, which differ from the deposited files only for Ecuador: two sessions and 150 rows after the edition's cutoff. If you recalculate the last decade for Ecuador from your download, it may not match exactly.
In Uruguay, 0.25% of the words in the eighties; 23.41% in this decade. In Costa Rica, from 11.81% in the nineties to 43.42%. Always as a share of the words of deputies of known sex. It does not rise in every chamber, and the figure does not hide it.
When does crime enter the debate?
Sixteen chambers, year by year, per million words spoken.
Portugal
Spain
Ecuador
Argentina
Uruguay
Mexico
Paraguay
Chile
Costa Rica
Peru
Panama
Colombia
Guatemala
Dominican Republic
Brazil
El Salvador
- Portugal: 848 · 2009
- Spain: 798 · 1995
- Ecuador: 1,013 · 2023
- Argentina: 1,013 · 2017
- Uruguay: 614 · 1999
- Mexico: 1,138 · 1993
- Paraguay: 445 · 2013
- Chile: 1,526 · 2024
- Costa Rica: 785 · 2001
- Peru: 1,447 · 2003
- Panama: 700 · 1996
- Colombia: 560 · 2017
- Guatemala: 997 · 2021
- Dominican Republic: 884 · 2011
- Brazil: 1,568 · 2025
- El Salvador: 874 · 2022
It counts crime, criminality, delinquency and offence, over the words spoken in that chamber and that year. A chamber may discuss the same problem without using any of the four. It does not rank chambers.
The chambers that name it most are not always the ones you would expect. An issue can sit in the plenary for years under other words —violence, conflict, security— that this figure does not count.
When was inflation spoken about?
Sixteen chambers, year by year, per million words spoken.
Portugal
Spain
Ecuador
Argentina
Uruguay
Mexico
Paraguay
Chile
Costa Rica
Peru
Panama
Colombia
Guatemala
Dominican Republic
Brazil
El Salvador
- Portugal: 560 · 2022
- Spain: 336 · 2022
- Ecuador: 171 · 1988
- Argentina: 727 · 2023
- Uruguay: 217 · 2014
- Mexico: 277 · 1988
- Paraguay: 78 · 1989
- Chile: 140 · 2022
- Costa Rica: 162 · 1999
- Peru: 105 · 1996
- Panama: 71 · 2008
- Colombia: 87 · 2001
- Guatemala: 162 · 2008
- Dominican Republic: 56 · 2022
- Brazil: 283 · 2022
- El Salvador: 56 · 2022
It counts inflation and its derivatives, over the words spoken in that chamber and that year. Chambers whose series begins late cannot show the first wave: the gap belongs to the corpus, not to the debate.
Two waves. The first leaves its mark where there was hyperinflation, and only there. The second, much more recent, rises in almost every chamber at once.
When does immigration reach the plenary?
Sixteen chambers, year by year, per million words spoken.
Portugal
Spain
Ecuador
Argentina
Uruguay
Mexico
Paraguay
Chile
Costa Rica
Peru
Panama
Colombia
Guatemala
Dominican Republic
Brazil
El Salvador
- Portugal: 721 · 2025
- Spain: 709 · 2006
- Ecuador: 564 · 2017
- Argentina: 142 · 2001
- Uruguay: 234 · 2004
- Mexico: 489 · 2017
- Paraguay: 255 · 2016
- Chile: 372 · 2023
- Costa Rica: 288 · 2009
- Peru: 178 · 2023
- Panama: 205 · 2004
- Colombia: 113 · 2021
- Guatemala: 1,074 · 2016
- Dominican Republic: 197 · 2015
- Brazil: 103 · 2008
- El Salvador: 403 · 2019
It counts immigration, emigration, migration and migrant, over the words spoken in that chamber and that year: those who arrive and those who leave go together, and the figure does not separate them. It does not rank chambers.
Almost all of them rise in recent years, but not for the same reason: among the chambers that name it most there are countries of arrival and countries of departure. The word alone does not say which of the two is being discussed.
Can a global event be seen in sixteen parliaments at once?
Sixteen chambers, year by year, per million words spoken.
Portugal
Spain
Ecuador
Argentina
Uruguay
Mexico
Paraguay
Chile
Costa Rica
Peru
Panama
Colombia
Guatemala
Dominican Republic
Brazil
El Salvador
- Portugal: 1,531 · 2020
- Spain: 1,379 · 2020
- Ecuador: 671 · 2020
- Argentina: 1,387 · 2020
- Uruguay: 763 · 2021
- Mexico: 661 · 2021
- Paraguay: 1,739 · 2021
- Chile: 1,326 · 2020
- Costa Rica: 767 · 2020
- Peru: 1,277 · 2020
- Panama: 1,305 · 2020
- Colombia: 801 · 2020
- Guatemala: 1,395 · 2020
- Dominican Republic: 1,001 · 2020
- Brazil: 2,180 · 2020
- El Salvador: 2,292 · 2020
It counts pandemic, covid and coronavirus, over the words spoken in that chamber and that year. A chamber rising higher does not mean it fared worse: it means how much the plenary was taken up. It does not rank chambers.
All sixteen rise in the same year, and none had done so before. It is the closest thing to an experiment the corpus offers: one shock, sixteen reactions, each chamber measuring its own.
Who is a terrorist, and when?
Sixteen chambers, year by year, per million words spoken.
Portugal
Spain
Ecuador
Argentina
Uruguay
Mexico
Paraguay
Chile
Costa Rica
Peru
Panama
Colombia
Guatemala
Dominican Republic
Brazil
El Salvador
- Portugal: 186 · 2004
- Spain: 391 · 2015
- Ecuador: 88 · 2024
- Argentina: 427 · 1983
- Uruguay: 144 · 2001
- Mexico: 75 · 2007
- Paraguay: 104 · 2013
- Chile: 317 · 1991
- Costa Rica: 81 · 2009
- Peru: 425 · 2012
- Panama: 74 · 2003
- Colombia: 517 · 2003
- Guatemala: 210 · 2025
- Dominican Republic: 82 · 2007
- Brazil: 195 · 2023
- El Salvador: 303 · 2022
It counts terrorism and terrorist, over the words spoken in that chamber and that year. The count does not say who is called that, or with what intent; to find out you read those interventions, and they are all here. It does not rank chambers.
The word does not mean the same in every chamber or every decade: in some it names an internal war, in others an attack, in others the political opponent. The count does not tell the three apart.
Where does employment weigh in the debate?
Sixteen chambers, year by year, per million words spoken.
Portugal
Spain
Ecuador
Argentina
Uruguay
Mexico
Paraguay
Chile
Costa Rica
Peru
Panama
Colombia
Guatemala
Dominican Republic
Brazil
El Salvador
- Portugal: 1,456 · 2009
- Spain: 1,648 · 2012
- Ecuador: 621 · 2016
- Argentina: 473 · 2016
- Uruguay: 455 · 2021
- Mexico: 453 · 2009
- Paraguay: 146 · 2025
- Chile: 385 · 2009
- Costa Rica: 961 · 2021
- Peru: 247 · 1995
- Panama: 418 · 2001
- Colombia: 349 · 2019
- Guatemala: 263 · 2020
- Dominican Republic: 237 · 2021
- Brazil: 760 · 2004
- El Salvador: 207 · 2018
It counts employment and unemployment, over the words spoken in that chamber and that year. A chamber may handle the same issue without naming it so. It does not rank chambers.
The two Iberian chambers speak of employment far more than the rest, and rise when a crisis reaches them. It is not that the others do not care: the same problem is debated there under other words.
When did the environment enter the plenary?
Sixteen chambers, year by year, per million words spoken.
Portugal
Spain
Ecuador
Argentina
Uruguay
Mexico
Paraguay
Chile
Costa Rica
Peru
Panama
Colombia
Guatemala
Dominican Republic
Brazil
El Salvador
- Portugal: 604 · 2019
- Spain: 522 · 2019
- Ecuador: 626 · 2015
- Argentina: 672 · 2021
- Uruguay: 481 · 2003
- Mexico: 736 · 2016
- Paraguay: 533 · 2014
- Chile: 562 · 2019
- Costa Rica: 371 · 2010
- Peru: 507 · 2005
- Panama: 429 · 1998
- Colombia: 508 · 2015
- Guatemala: 368 · 2025
- Dominican Republic: 458 · 2007
- Brazil: 612 · 2009
- El Salvador: 439 · 2024
It counts environment, environmental and climate, over the words spoken in that chamber and that year. Naming it does not say what was decided. It does not rank chambers.
It was absent at the start of almost every series and today it is in all of them. It is one of the few words that rise steadily across the sixteen, instead of spiking and falling with an event.
In which chambers do indigenous peoples exist?
Sixteen chambers, year by year, per million words spoken.
Portugal
Spain
Ecuador
Argentina
Uruguay
Mexico
Paraguay
Chile
Costa Rica
Peru
Panama
Colombia
Guatemala
Dominican Republic
Brazil
El Salvador
- Portugal: 11 · 1994
- Spain: 6 · 2023
- Ecuador: 466 · 2012
- Argentina: 247 · 2009
- Uruguay: 65 · 2009
- Mexico: 467 · 2024
- Paraguay: 384 · 2005
- Chile: 629 · 2017
- Costa Rica: 426 · 1998
- Peru: 260 · 2009
- Panama: 647 · 2000
- Colombia: 360 · 2009
- Guatemala: 455 · 2025
- Dominican Republic: 51 · 2016
- Brazil: 396 · 2021
- El Salvador: 122 · 2022
It counts indigenous and original peoples, over the words spoken in that chamber and that year. Being named does not say in what terms or to what effect. It does not rank chambers.
This is the word that splits the map most: in some chambers it appears every year, and in the two Iberian ones almost never. Where there is an indigenous population, the plenary names it; where there is not, the word leaves the debate.
What trace does infrastructure leave in the plenary?
Sixteen chambers, year by year, per million words spoken.
Portugal
Spain
Ecuador
Argentina
Uruguay
Mexico
Paraguay
Chile
Costa Rica
Peru
Panama
Colombia
Guatemala
Dominican Republic
Brazil
El Salvador
- Portugal: 192 · 2018
- Spain: 334 · 2007
- Ecuador: 182 · 2016
- Argentina: 252 · 2015
- Uruguay: 175 · 2020
- Mexico: 349 · 2010
- Paraguay: 274 · 2016
- Chile: 200 · 2023
- Costa Rica: 342 · 2024
- Peru: 320 · 2016
- Panama: 253 · 2017
- Colombia: 151 · 2014
- Guatemala: 773 · 2019
- Dominican Republic: 83 · 2025
- Brazil: 227 · 2012
- El Salvador: 462 · 2025
It counts how often the word and its derivatives are said, over the words spoken in that chamber and that year. Naming an issue does not say what was decided about it. A year with little material does not count.
Here no chamber has a year that shoots up. Public works are spoken about steadily, with local rises: it is the trace of an issue, not of a crisis.
When is corruption spoken about in the plenary?
Sixteen chambers, year by year, per million words spoken.
Portugal
Spain
Ecuador
Argentina
Uruguay
Mexico
Paraguay
Chile
Costa Rica
Peru
Panama
Colombia
Guatemala
Dominican Republic
Brazil
El Salvador
- Portugal: 284 · 2009
- Spain: 711 · 2025
- Ecuador: 551 · 2020
- Argentina: 395 · 2017
- Uruguay: 196 · 1998
- Mexico: 474 · 2025
- Paraguay: 495 · 2022
- Chile: 214 · 2024
- Costa Rica: 389 · 2004
- Peru: 1,084 · 2018
- Panama: 274 · 2001
- Colombia: 264 · 2019
- Guatemala: 317 · 2002
- Dominican Republic: 142 · 2021
- Brazil: 703 · 2016
- El Salvador: 450 · 2023
It counts corruption and corrupt, over the words spoken in that chamber and that year. The count does not say who accuses whom; the interventions do. Whether the accusation prospered is outside the database. It does not rank chambers.
It rises in jolts, not gradually: each chamber has its year, and it is almost always the year of a case that reached the courts. It is a word of scandal, not of programme.
Is poverty spoken about where there is most poverty?
Sixteen chambers, year by year, per million words spoken.
Portugal
Spain
Ecuador
Argentina
Uruguay
Mexico
Paraguay
Chile
Costa Rica
Peru
Panama
Colombia
Guatemala
Dominican Republic
Brazil
El Salvador
- Portugal: 650 · 2014
- Spain: 711 · 2016
- Ecuador: 345 · 2013
- Argentina: 485 · 2019
- Uruguay: 293 · 2022
- Mexico: 461 · 1994
- Paraguay: 200 · 2013
- Chile: 524 · 1995
- Costa Rica: 517 · 2006
- Peru: 417 · 2008
- Panama: 437 · 2008
- Colombia: 302 · 2006
- Guatemala: 468 · 2009
- Dominican Republic: 249 · 2014
- Brazil: 450 · 2019
- El Salvador: 107 · 2021
It counts poverty, the poor and inequality, over the words spoken in that chamber and that year. The database carries no data about the country, only about what was said in its chamber. It does not rank chambers.
No. The chambers that name it most are not those of the poorest countries, and those that name it least are not the richest. What the figure measures is how much the word takes up the plenary, not how much poverty there is outside.
borrador
Comparing Ibero-American democracies by what was said in their chambers used to cost one academic career per country. That cost is already paid.
In the natural sciences, infrastructure is usually a laboratory: nobody builds one for each experiment. In the social sciences and humanities, it is comparable data: someone gathers and harmonizes them once, and everyone else starts from there.
PELA-USAL, Latinobarómetro, ParlaMint, and the Manifesto Project belong to that family.
Three years of work. One download. That is what infrastructure means.
16 chambers · 1976–2025 · CC BY 4.0 · 16 DOIs · University of Salamanca · Harvard Dataverse
The question has a literature (Bäck and Debus, 2019). What was missing was the material to ask it in sixteen Ibero-American chambers with the same unit.
What is there, and since when?
Everything there was. Not a sample of what there was.
Of the 800 chamber-year cells, 527 have a session; the rest are years before each series or declared gaps.
The shade shows how much material there is, not how much debate.
Find your chamber.
Speech turns
- PortugalPT4,9391,554,381
- SpainES3,559558,940
- EcuadorEC6,1051,280,822
- ArgentinaAR1991–20001,086256,636
- UruguayUY2,813421,284
- MexicoMX2,537630,937
- ParaguayPY2001–2002, 2006–2007, 2011–20121,275360,201
- ChileCL4,336556,679
- Costa RicaCR5,343375,730
- PeruPE3,061849,499
- PanamaPA3,638508,324
- ColombiaCO1,608463,201
- GuatemalaGT2,039251,720
- Dominican RepublicDO2,225101,381
- BrazilBR7,7311,649,698
- El SalvadorSV42348,654
With the keyboard: one tab stop per chamber; the arrow keys move through the years.
Each row is a chamber; each column, a year. A filled cell means that the database has at least one session from that year, not that all of them are there. The shade shows how much material there is, not how much debate. The series start in different years: before the start the cell is empty, and it is not a gap.
Below the grid, without cells, the five countries from a universe of 21 that have no corpus. Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua do not publish the records of their debates. Bolivia publishes them without digitizing them. Honduras publishes summaries of what was discussed, not the interventions.
There are five countries missing. It is worth saying why.
Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua — do not publish the records of their debates.
Bolivia — publishes them without digitizing them.
Honduras — publishes summaries of what was discussed, not the interventions.
A single criterion: that a record of the plenary debate exists in the form of speeches. Where it exists, it is here.
| Country | Chamber | Record | Period | Years with a session | Declared gaps | Sessions | Rows | Speech turns | DOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portugal | Assembleia da República | Diário da Assembleia da República, I Série | 1976–2025 | 50 | 4,939 | 1,559,320 | 1,554,381 | 10.7910/DVN/VRPUFU | |
| Spain | Congreso de los Diputados | Diario de Sesiones (Pleno, Diputación Permanente, sesiones de 1977-79) | 1977–2025 | 49 | 3,559 | 562,514 | 558,940 | 10.7910/DVN/OKHGAB | |
| Ecuador | Cámara Nacional de Representantes / Congreso Nacional / Asambleas Constituyentes / Asamblea Nacional | Actas | 1979–2025 | 47 | 6,105 | 1,292,596 | 1,280,822 | 10.7910/DVN/M2QJN6 | |
| Argentina | Cámara de Diputados de la Nación | Diario de Sesiones | 1983–2025 | 33 | 1991–2000 | 1,086 | 258,808 | 256,636 | 10.7910/DVN/IVNYID |
| Uruguay | Cámara de Representantes | Diario de Sesiones | 1985–2025 | 41 | 2,813 | 424,097 | 421,284 | 10.7910/DVN/KI1AOC | |
| Mexico | Cámara de Diputados | Diario de los Debates | 1988–2025 | 38 | 2,537 | 633,474 | 630,937 | 10.7910/DVN/0IS1YE | |
| Paraguay | Cámara de Diputados | Diario de Sesiones | 1988–2025 | 32 | 2001–2002, 2006–2007, 2011–2012 | 1,275 | 362,945 | 360,201 | 10.7910/DVN/PDX8GA |
| Chile | Cámara de Diputadas y Diputados | Boletín de sesión | 1990–2025 | 36 | 4,336 | 596,729 | 556,679 | 10.7910/DVN/IKBNRL | |
| Costa Rica | Asamblea Legislativa | Actas de la Sesión Plenaria | 1994–2025 | 32 | 5,343 | 381,976 | 375,730 | 10.7910/DVN/W6UAHQ | |
| Peru | Congreso de la República | Diario de los Debates | 1995–2025 | 31 | 3,061 | 852,560 | 849,499 | 10.7910/DVN/7MK94V | |
| Panama | Asamblea Nacional (Legislativa hasta 2004) | Actas del Pleno | 1996–2025 | 30 | 3,638 | 511,962 | 508,324 | 10.7910/DVN/Y8FUSX | |
| Colombia | Cámara de Representantes | Gaceta del Congreso (actas de plenaria) | 2000–2025 | 26 | 1,608 | 464,805 | 463,201 | 10.7910/DVN/TYYERX | |
| Guatemala | Congreso de la República | Diario de Sesiones | 2000–2026 | 27 | 2,039 | 253,759 | 251,720 | 10.7910/DVN/NH5TTC | |
| Dominican Republic | Cámara de Diputados | Actas de sesión del Pleno | 2001–2025 | 25 | 2,225 | 229,325 | 101,381 | 10.7910/DVN/DZKXUG | |
| Brazil | Câmara dos Deputados | Notas taquigráficas (Íntegra das sessões) | 2003–2025 | 23 | 7,731 | 1,657,113 | 1,649,698 | 10.7910/DVN/VTXNW3 | |
| El Salvador | Asamblea Legislativa | Versión taquigráfica | 2018–2025 | 8 | 423 | 49,077 | 48,654 | 10.7910/DVN/MUJU6A | |
| Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua | — do not publish the records of their debates. | ||||||||
| Bolivia | — publishes them without digitizing them. | ||||||||
| Honduras | — publishes summaries of what was discussed, not the interventions. | ||||||||
Deposited edition: what each DOI returns. Not all rows are speech; that is why both columns are shown.
CSV and Excel, with their README. These are aggregate data.
- WHAT IT MEASURES
- For each chamber and each year between 1976 and 2025: whether the database has at least one session, how many sessions, and how many speech turns.
- DENOMINATOR
- A total of 800 cells, one per chamber and year. Of these, 527 have at least one session.
- CAVEAT
- A filled cell means that there is at least one session from that year, not that all of them are there. The shade shows how much material there is, not how much debate. Before the start of a series the cell is empty, and it is not a gap. A declared gap is a span of years within the series that the chamber's repository does not have, and it carries its label. There are five countries missing from a universe of 21. Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua do not publish the records of their debates. Bolivia publishes them without digitizing them. Honduras publishes summaries of what was discussed, not the interventions.
Who occupies the plenary's time?
The unit is the speaking turn, as the Record itself marks it.
Sí, si es urgente hay que demostrarlo, porque ahí también viene el dinero para compra de frijol y la época de siembra no espera a que la Asamblea quiera o no quiera, así que ojala que la próxima semana cumplamos lo que nos corresponde como diputados.
Of 9,868,087 speech turns, in 87.05% we know which deputy is speaking. Of the rest, those who cannot hold a seat—ministers, clerks, guests—account for 75.35%; collective voice, 11.79%; our missed link, 12.86%. Not counting the first two, 98.12%.
In Panama, 30.68% of the speech turns belong to those who cannot hold a seat. Compare by country, never from the pooled number.
What was said that day?
Six sessions that you recognize are here.
The admission of the impeachment proceedings against Brazil's president, with 1,780 rows. The investiture interrupted by the assault on Spain's Congreso de los Diputados, with 28. The removal of Peru's president by declaration of vacancy, with 481.
That they are here does not validate their content.
The two from the impeachment trial of Paraguay's president are not here: they fall in a declared gap.
SpainThe investiture session interrupted by the assault on the Congreso.
28 Rows
EcuadorCongress removes the president of the Republic from office.
353 Rows
ArgentinaLegislative Assembly after the resignation of the president of the Nation.
122 Rows
EcuadorCongress removes the president of the Republic from office.
790 Rows
ParaguayImpeachment trial of the president of the Republic: it falls within a declared gap.
ParaguayRemoval of the president of the Republic: it falls within a declared gap.
BrazilThe chamber admits the impeachment proceedings against the president of the Republic.
1,780 Rows
PeruCongress removes the president of the Republic by declaring the office vacant.
481 Rows
Open one: download that country and find it by date in the explorer.
To cite a passage, give the date and the session number, and check it against the official Record.
Four unclaimed questions
The database carries no annotation. This is where you come in.
Topic. The Comparative Agendas Project coding scheme exists; a classifier validated in two languages is missing.
Tone. Validated classifiers are missing; in scanned records, measuring tone can be measuring the scanner.
Position. The text and the party are there; the scaling and its human validation are missing.
Vote. The tallies in the Record are text; the votes come from outside.
Three years of work. One download.
Here, the variables have to be built.
No coding.
The data for each figure. Or El Salvador in the explorer: 98 MB, from 2018 to 2025.
The explorer's interface is in Spanish only today. Search runs on each chamber's original text, in Spanish or Portuguese.
With basic R or Python.
One country, from 98 MB to 1.5 GB: filters, counts, series.
With text analysis methods.
All sixteen, 12.3 GB: embeddings, classification, graphs. This is where you have to learn, and it can be learned.
- It opens in your browser; nothing leaves your computer.
- The explorer opens one country at a time, is in Spanish only today, and requires a recent browser.
- Identifiers are stable within an edition, not across editions.
Rodrigues-Silveira, Rodrigo (2026). ParlaIbero. Harvard Dataverse. https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataverse/parlaibero