When conflict leaves the rules: party institutionalisation, system closure and legislative violence in Europe

Physical violence in legislatures is rare, but it marks a moment when parliamentary conflict escapes the rules that are meant to contain it. This article examines reported incidents of physical violence in 43 European legislatures from 1980 to 2021. It argues that party institutionalisation reduces the risk of violence by making discipline, bargaining authority, and future competition more predictable. Party-system closure has a more conditional role. In less polarised settings, closure may reassure losers that competition remains organised and repeatable. In more polarised settings, closure can make exclusion more salient, especially at intermediate-to-high levels of closure. The evidence shows that violence is less common where parties are more institutionalised and that closure’s association with violence depends on polarisation. The findings locate legislative brawls within ordinary problems of party organisation, legislative contestation, and democratic restraint.