Can Nonwestern Origin Candidates Represent Co-ethnic Voters in European Parties?

• In Event: Group Appeals

Abstract

Do ethnic minority candidates and MPs especially center and right candidates better represent the political attitudes of their co-ethnic communities in Western countries outside the U.S.? The U.S. literature argues that ethnic minority elected officials (e.g., Black, Latino, South Asian, Arab, Maghrebi) better represent their co-ethnic communities than others. But, there is little literature about the representativeness of ethnic minority candidates in the West outside the U.S. The assumption is often that center and right candidates are unrepresentative of their communities in the U.S. and other Western countries. Few studies directly measure ethnic candidates’ attitudes or compare them to their co-ethnic communities in Western countries outside the U.S. These studies do not fully consider the effect of party cohesion and discipline on representation they use particularly Netherlands where both are very strong (e.g., Netherlands). I compare parliamentary candidate surveys and national election voter surveys to determine if ethnic candidates in center and right parties match the political ideology and policy attitudes of ethnic minority voters. I use parliamentary speeches and votes on ethnic and non-ethnic issues to determine if ethnic candidates who share their co-ethnic communities’ values are restricted by discipline and cohesion from representing these communities. I also argue that how well these candidates represent the values and policy preferences of their co-ethnic communities depends in part on how the strength of party cohesion and discipline varies across countries and parties. Using the Comparative Candidates Survey and national election voter studies in five Western countries from 2005 to 2019, I argue that ethnic candidates even in center and right parties represent significant subsegments of ethnic minorities on key issues and the whole community on others

Author

• Kimberly L. Shella, Southern Illinois University Carbondale