The Effect of Broadcasting Parliamentary Proceedings on Legislative Disruption: Evidence from India

Can broadcasting parliamentary proceedings encourage more responsible legislative behavior? Existing theories remain divided on whether increasing transparency through visual media enhances parliamentary functioning or, conversely, promotes grandstanding and protests. This paper examines the effects of televising the proceedings of the Indian parliament on legislative disruption – behavior that violates chamber rules. Although broadcasting was introduced to enhance transparency, multi-method evidence from 1,590 parliamentary sittings shows that the shift from print coverage to live visual broadcasting increased disruption. Original data further support the proposed mechanism: broadcasting redirected legislators’ incentives away from intra-legislative signaling and toward extra-legislative position-taking, fostering voter-oriented and sustained disruption. These findings contribute to broader debates on the effects of political communication technologies, showing that transparency reforms, while well-intentioned, can undermine institutional performance. The results suggest that decisions to broadcast parliamentary proceedings must be calibrated to the legislative context.