Debate Documents

AKN has dedicated support for parliamentary debates, committee hearings, and any proceeding structured around speeches. The <debate> and <debateReport> document types use <debateBody> instead of <body>.

Structure

<debate name="session-56">
  <meta><!-- ... --></meta>
  <preface>
    <p>Session 56 of the Chamber of Deputies</p>
    <docDate date="2006-06-15">15 June 2006</docDate>
  </preface>
  <debateBody>
    <debateSection eId="dbsect_1" name="openingStatements">
      <heading>Opening Statements</heading>
      <speech eId="dbsect_1__spch_1" by="#president">
        <from>The President</from>
        <p>The session is now open.</p>
      </speech>
    </debateSection>
    <!-- more sections... -->
  </debateBody>
</debate>

Debate sections

The <debateBody> contains <debateSection> elements, which can be nested. AKN also provides 19 specialized section types for common parliamentary activities:

Element	Purpose
`<debateSection>`	Generic debate section (most flexible)
`<administrationOfOath>`	Swearing-in ceremonies
`<rollCall>`	Roll call / attendance
`<prayers>`	Opening prayers or invocations
`<oralStatements>`	Oral statements by ministers/members
`<writtenStatements>`	Written statements entered into record
`<personalStatements>`	Personal statements by members
`<ministerialStatements>`	Statements by ministers/government
`<resolutions>`	Resolution deliberations
`<nationalInterest>`	Matters of national interest
`<declarationOfVote>`	Members declaring their vote rationale
`<communication>`	Communications to the chamber
`<petitions>`	Citizen petitions
`<papers>`	Papers laid before the chamber
`<noticesOfMotion>`	Notices of future motions
`<questions>`	Question time
`<address>`	Formal addresses (e.g., head of state)
`<proceduralMotions>`	Procedural motions
`<pointOfOrder>`	Points of order

All specialized sections have the same internal structure as <debateSection>.

Speech elements

`<speech>` — A speech by a member

<speech eId="dbsect_1__spch_1" by="#diputado-valenciano">
  <from>Dip. Valenciano</from>
  <p>Mr. President, I rise to oppose this amendment.</p>
  <p>The use of chorizo in paella is an affront to our culinary heritage.</p>
</speech>

Attribute	Description
`by`	Reference to the speaker (matches a TLCPerson in `<references>`)
`as`	The role in which they speak (matches a TLCRole)
`to`	Who they are addressing

`<from>` — Speaker identification

Always the first child of <speech>:

<from>The Minister of Agriculture</from>

`<question>` — A question

<question eId="dbsect_1__quest_1" by="#diputada-consumo" to="#minister">
  <from>Dip. Consumo</from>
  <p>Can the Minister confirm whether newspaper ink is food-safe?</p>
</question>

`<answer>` — An answer

<answer eId="dbsect_1__ans_1" by="#minister">
  <from>The Minister</from>
  <p>I refer the honorable member to my previous statement.</p>
</answer>

`<scene>` — Stage directions

Non-verbal events during the debate:

<scene>[Applause]</scene>
<scene>[The member leaves the chamber]</scene>

`<narrative>` — Descriptive text

Narrative passages by the transcriber:

<narrative>At this point, the session was suspended for 15 minutes.</narrative>

`<summary>` — Summary of proceedings

<summary>
  <p>The committee discussed 5 amendments and approved 2.</p>
</summary>

Voting in debates

Voting sections within debates use <voting>:

<debateSection name="voting" eId="dbsect_vote">
  <heading>Voting</heading>
  <speech by="#president">
    <from>The President</from>
    <p>We shall now proceed to vote on Amendment 1.</p>
  </speech>
  <voting>
    <quorumVerification>
      <count value="88" refersTo="#membersPresent"/>
    </quorumVerification>
    <p>Those in favor: 86. Those against: 0. Abstentions: 2.</p>
    <p>The amendment is approved.</p>
  </voting>
</debateSection>

For structured (computable) voting data, use the <analysis><parliamentary><voting> metadata — or the AKN Diff vote extension.

Real example: Chile Session 56

From cl_Sesion56_2.xml in the official examples:

<debate name="recurso">
  <meta>
    <identification source="#bcn">
      <FRBRWork>
        <FRBRthis value="/akn/cl/debate/recurso/2006/1076048"/>
        <FRBRuri value="/akn/cl/debate/recurso/2006/1076048"/>
        <FRBRdate date="2006-06-15" name="workDate"/>
        <FRBRauthor href="#bcn"/>
        <FRBRcountry value="cl"/>
      </FRBRWork>
      <!-- Expression, Manifestation... -->
    </identification>
    <analysis source="#bcn">
      <parliamentary>
        <voting eId="v_1" outcome="#aprobacionUnanime" href="#ct1-db1-vot1">
          <count eId="v_1__c_1" value="0" refersTo="#SinConteo"/>
        </voting>
        <voting eId="v_2" outcome="#aprobado" href="#od01-pl01-V01-01">
          <count eId="v_2__c_1" value="86" refersTo="#aFavor"/>
          <count eId="v_2__c_2" value="0" refersTo="#enContra"/>
          <count eId="v_2__c_3" value="2" refersTo="#seAbstiene"/>
        </voting>
      </parliamentary>
    </analysis>
    <references source="#bcn">
      <TLCLocation eId="Sotaqui" href="/cl/..." showAs="Sotaqui"/>
      <TLCOrganization eId="ministerio-de-relaciones-exteriores"
                        href="/akn/recurso/cl/organismo/..." showAs="..."/>
      <!-- many more organizations, persons... -->
    </references>
  </meta>
  <debateBody>
    <debateSection name="agenda">
      <!-- sections for roll call, committees, main debate, voting -->
    </debateSection>
  </debateBody>
</debate>

Note how voting data appears both in <analysis><parliamentary> (structured metadata) and in the <debateBody> (narrative transcript).

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Debate Documents

Structure

Debate sections

Speech elements

<speech> — A speech by a member

<from> — Speaker identification

<question> — A question

<answer> — An answer

<scene> — Stage directions

<narrative> — Descriptive text

<summary> — Summary of proceedings