The more concentrated, the better represented? The geographical concentration of immigrants and their descriptive representation in the German mixed-member system

Abstract

Does the geographical concentration of ethnic minorities influence their descriptive representation in closed-list systems? Counterintuitive to the idea that single-member district electoral rules are necessary for minorities’ geographical representation, we argue that, in closed-list systems, parties are incentivised to allocate promising list positions to those minority candidates who are based in geographical areas where minorities concentrate. Empirically, we provide a case study of the list positions of dual candidates of immigrant origin running in the German mixed-member system in 2013. Results show a relationship between the list positions of candidates of immigrant origin and geographical concentrations of immigrant-origin residents.

Ethnicity, gender, and intersectionality: How context factors shape the intersectional (dis)advantage under proportional representation rules

“…To consider the role of parties, we look at candidates’ relative promising list position as operationalized by Geese and Schacht’s (2019). The relative promising list position is a measure based on the last promising list position.…”

“…A value of 0 represents the last promising position, while positions above (below) this threshold have positive (negative) values. The higher the value, the further it is from the threshold (Geese and Schacht, 2019: 6). If the measure is not determinant for candidates’ election in Brussels (since the list system is relatively open), it remains a relevant indicator of parties’ list composition strategies.…”

“…This could further contribute to parties’ vote share in ethnically dense districts where these candidates are already likely to attract more preference votes. Parties might also include ethnic minority candidates on higher list positions to signal their openness towards diversity and to attract (minority) voters (Geese and Schacht, 2019). Based on this, we hypothesize that:…”

Visible Minority Women in German Politics: Between Discrimination and Targeted Recruitment

“…Another possible explanation is demographics. Previous research suggests that immigrants are better represented in electoral districts with a higher concentration of immigrants (Hossain et al 2016;Geese and Schacht 2019). The question remains whether this also influences the representation of visible minority women.…”

Is there such a thing as a Muslim vote?

“…Electoral studies have shown the impact of several elements among them gender, ballot list position, familiarity and incumbency in explaining candidates' success (van Erkel & Thijssen, 2016;Put & Maddens, 2015). Available research mentions that the diversity of candidates on party lists in urban contexts increased in urban cities with a large ethno-religious electorate (Geese & Schacht, 2019;Togeby, 2008). Maybe the party selectorate increasingly field minority candidates on their lists, because they expect some electoral gain and to attract the votes of minority groups.…”