Studies in the Netherlands and Germany as well as in Denmark analyzing the political representation of ethnic minorities at the local, regional and national level have shown a disproportionate high rate of Turkish migrants in parliaments compared to other ethnic minorities. Explanations brought forward are motivations based on group-loyalties with shared experiences like individual or collective discrimination; political awareness fostered through links to the country of origin and experiences in migrant Organizations and Networks. Empirically there is a need to substantiate these claims and to clarify if and how ethnicity used in the political actions of local politicians with a migration background. This paper will present first findings from my doctoral research conducted during the local elections in Frankfurt and Hannover in 2011. Empirical data based on interviews and participant observations is used to show that local politicians with a migration background frequently use ethnicity in their election campaigns and that institutional structures of ethnic organizations are crucial for ethnic mobilization. This work is part of my doctoral thesis with the title: Local Politicians with a migration background: The Role of Ethnicity for political engagement. The main focus of my work is to discern the impact ethnic resources have on political actions. What are the motivations to use these resources and under what circumstances do local councilors with migration background actually make use of them and how do institutional structures of ethnic groups influence the political action of those politicians? The paper will first introduce the relevance of these questions and subsequently present empirical findings.
