Energy agendas: A longitudinal analysis of Finnish parliamentary debates

Abstract

Energy agendas in national parliaments are crucial when countries seek to develop their energy futures while adhering to international obligations. This article examines how energy agendas emerge and evolve in parliamentary debates using data from Finland over a period of 12 years. By relying on topic modelling, we can show how the key energy agendas relate to an overall energy solution, promoting domestic energy production and seeking carbon‐neutral energy, and how they evolve successively alongside general concerns for the country's task ahead in the field. Examining more detailed agendas, in turn, validates the first analysis and exposes some differences in the agendas of political parties. These differences were few. This further specifies the nature of Finnish energy politics, which is often considered consensual except for nuclear power and peat as sources of energy. The article demonstrates that scholars who examine parliamentary politics may benefit from the use of language‐based computational methodologies to uncover insights that have previously been difficult to attain.