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Get Data on Plenary Sessions of the Austrian Parliament

Source: R/get_plenary_sessions.R
get_plenary_sessions.Rd

Retrieves information about plenary sessions from the Austrian Parliament's API (see here). Data available from 20th legislative period onwards.

Usage

get_plenary_sessions(
  institution = NULL,
  legis_period = NULL,
  session_and_activities = NULL,
  submitted = NULL,
  held = NULL,
  echo = FALSE
)

Arguments

institution

A character string specifying the institution. "BR" (Bundesrat/Federal Council), "NR" (Nationalrat/National Council), or "BV" (Bundesversammlung/Federal Assembly).

legis_period

Numeric value or vector specifying the legislative period(s). Can also be NULL to retrieve all periods from 20th onwards. Must be NULL when institution is "BV" (Bundesversammlung does not use legislative periods).

session_and_activities

A character string. One of 'sessions', 'submitted', or 'held'. Not applicable when institution is "BV" (Bundesversammlung); must be NULL for BV institution.

submitted

A character string specifying the type of submissions that were introduced. Possible values are: 'All', 'AA', 'G037', 'G080', 'J', 'AE', 'G015', 'G014', 'AB', 'G053', 'UEA', 'UEAM'. Only used when session_and_activities = "submitted". Not applicable for BV institution. See details below.

held

A character string specifying the type of sessions that were held. Possible values are: 'All', 'ASEU', 'AS', 'GO04', 'FS', 'RGER', 'RGEU', 'GO', 'GO35'. Only used when session_and_activities = "held". Not applicable for BV institution. See details below.

echo

Logical. If TRUE, prints the API request body parameters and the number of results. Default is FALSE.

Value

A data frame containing plenary session details, or NULL if no results found. The structure depends on session_and_activities parameter:

If session_and_activities = "sessions":

  • institution: parliamentary institution (e.g., "NR", "BR")

  • legis_period: legislative period (not returned if institution is 'BV')

  • date: date of the session

  • session_number: number of the session

  • session_day: day of session

  • session_url: URL to the session page

  • agenda_url_html: URL to the agenda in HTML format

  • agenda_url_pdf: URL to the agenda in PDF format

If session_and_activities = "submitted" or "held":

  • legis_period: legislative period

  • date: date of the activity

  • url_session_item: URL to the session item

  • url_session: URL to the session

  • type_title: title of the activity type

  • type_txt: text of the activity type

  • topic: topic of the activity

  • citation: item citation

  • session_number: number of session

  • session_type_abbrev: abbreviation for the session type

  • session_type_name: full name of session type

  • link, link_2, link_3: Additional links related to the activity

For BV (Bundesversammlung) institution:

  • Returns basic session information without the activity-specific filtering options available for BR/NR

  • Does NOT include legis_period column (not applicable for Federal Assembly)

  • Columns returned: institution, date, session_number, session_day, session_url, agenda_url_html, agenda_url_pdf

Details

The function argument session_and_activities allows for three different inputs: sessions: Returns details on the plenary sessions held. submitted: Returns details on the submissions made during the plenary sessions. held: Returns details on the type of sessions held during the plenary sessions.

Possible values for submitted if session_and_activities is set to submitted:

  • All

  • AA: Abänderungsanträge (Amendment Motions)

  • G037: Anträge auf Absetzung von der Tagesordnung (Motions to Remove from Agenda)

  • G080: Anträge auf Durchführung einer Volksabstimmung (Motions for Referendum)

  • J: Dringliche Anfragen (Urgent Inquiries)

  • AE: Dringliche Anträge (Urgent Motions)

  • G015: Fristerstreckungsanträge (Deadline Extension Motions)

  • G014: Fristsetzungsanträge (Deadline Setting Motions)

  • AB: Kurze Debatten über Anfragebeantwortungen (Brief Debates on Inquiry Responses)

  • G053: Rückverweisungsanträge (Referral Back Motions)

  • UEA: Unselbständige Entschließungsanträge (Dependent Resolution Motions)

  • UEAM: Unselbständige Misstrauensanträge (Dependent No-Confidence Motions)

Possible values for held if session_and_activities is set to held:

  • All

  • ASEU: Aktuelle Europastunden (Current Europe Hours)

  • AS: Aktuelle Stunden (Current Hours)

  • GO04: Erklärungen des Präsidenten / der Präsidentin (President Declarations)

  • FS: Fragestunden (Question Hours)

  • RGER: Regierungserklärungen (Government Declarations)

  • RGEU: Regierungserklärungen zu EU-Themen (Government Declarations on EU Topics)

  • GO: Sonstige Geschäftsordnungsangelegenheiten (Other Procedural Matters)

  • GO35: Unterrichtungen gemäß Art. 50 Abs. 5 B-VG (Notifications according to Art. 50 Para. 5 B-VG)

Examples

if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
# Basic usage: Get sessions for National Council, legislative periods 20-27
sessions_20_27 <- get_plenary_sessions(
  institution = "NR",
  legis_period = seq(20, 27),
  session_and_activities = "sessions",
  echo = TRUE
)

# Get activities submitted during sessions
get_plenary_sessions(
  institution = "NR",
  legis_period = 27,
  session_and_activities = "submitted"
)

# Get specific type of submitted activities (urgent inquiries)
get_plenary_sessions(
  institution = "NR",
  legis_period = 27,
  session_and_activities = "submitted",
  submitted = "J"
)

# Get activities held during sessions
get_plenary_sessions(
  institution = "NR",
  legis_period = 27,
  session_and_activities = "held",
  held = "FS"
)

# Federal Council sessions
get_plenary_sessions(
  institution = "BR",
  legis_period = 28,
  session_and_activities = "sessions"
)

# Multiple legislative periods
get_plenary_sessions(
  institution = "NR",
  legis_period = c(26, 27),
  session_and_activities = "sessions"
)

# All periods from 20th onwards (NULL legis_period)
get_plenary_sessions(
  institution = "NR",
  legis_period = NULL,
  session_and_activities = "sessions"
)
} # }