The Representation of Citizens of Immigrant Origin in Established Democracies

Building: SNS - Palazzo della Carovana Floor: Ground Room: Aula Fermi Building: SNS - Palazzo della Carovana Floor: Ground Room: Aula Fermi Building: SNS - Palazzo della Carovana Floor: Ground Room: Aula Fermi Building: SNS - Palazzo della Carovana Floor: Ground Room: Aula Fermi

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Abstract

Over the past decades, many established democracies have grown increasingly diverse in ethnic terms. To a considerable extent, this growing diversity has been a result of immigration. Europeanisation and the stronger demands for inclusion in the democratic process made by citizens of immigrant origin have led to an expansion of the electorate in many countries. As a consequence, the political rights, representation and integration of immigrants and their descendants have become important and controversial topics for debate amongst policy makers and social scientists. Some noticeable advances notwithstanding, there is still strong variation in the ‘presence’ of citizens of immigrant origin in democratically elected bodies such as parliamentary assemblies. What is the extent of these variations? What are the main sources of variability? To what extent do institutions (such as electoral systems) shape these variations? What are the consequences of the growing presence of representatives of immigrant origin for debates and other representational activities in the legislatures of established democracies? To what extent have parties begun to compete for immigrant-origin voters by offering a more diverse set of candidates? What are the reasons for differences between political parties in this respect? And to what extent does the presence of representatives of immigrant origin change the content and tone of debates in legislative assemblies? In other word, is there a link between ‘descriptive’ and ‘substantive’ representation? Contributions to this workshop will assess the state of the art in the areas listed above; compare the results with research on other groups; reflect on ways of overcoming gaps in empirical data; discuss new methodological approaches (e.g., quasi-experimental designs) and measurements (e.g., advanced methods of retrieving and analysing the texts of speeches); and not to least define the theoretical and empirical research agenda for the next years.

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