Stokoe_[Text Talk] Getting service.pdf (1.86 MB)
Getting service at the constituency office: Analyzing citizens' encounters with their Member of Parliament
journal contribution
posted on 2018-09-10, 09:05 authored by Emily Hofstetter, Elizabeth StokoeIn this paper, we present an analysis of how constituents procure services at the constituency office of a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom. This paper will investigate how several previously documented interactional
practices (e.g. entitlement) combine at the constituency office in a way that secures service. From a corpus of 12.5 hours of interaction, and using conversation
analysis, we examine constituents’ telephone calls and meetings with constituency
office staff and the MP, identifying practices constituents use. First, constituents opened encounters with bids to tell narratives. Second, constituents
presented lengthy and detailed descriptions of their difficulties. These descriptions
gave space to manage issues of legitimacy and entitlement, while simultaneously
recruiting assistance. Third, we examine ways in which constituents display uncertainty about how the institution of the constituency office functions, and what services are available. The paper offers original insights into how constituency services are provided, and how constituency offices give access and support to ordinary citizens, while expanding the conversation analytic literature on institutional service provision.
History
School
- Social Sciences
Department
- Communication, Media, Social and Policy Studies
Published in
TEXT & TALKVolume
38Issue
5Pages
551 - 573 (23)Citation
HOFSTETTER, E. and STOKOE, E., 2018. Getting service at the constituency office: Analyzing citizens' encounters with their Member of Parliament. Text & Talk, 38(5), pp. 551-573.Publisher
DE GRUYTER MOUTONVersion
- VoR (Version of Record)
Publisher statement
This paper was published in the journal TEXT & TALK and the definitive published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1515/text-2018-0014Acceptance date
2018-06-12Publication date
2018-08-04ISSN
1860-7330eISSN
1860-7349Publisher version
Language
- en