Is One’s Origin a Burden or an Advantage? Immigrant-Origin Candidates and Selection Process for the German Bundestag Election 2017

In the newly elected Bundestag, 8 percent of all parliament members have a so-called “migration background”, which means they (or at least one of their parents) are not German nationals by birth. Although this share is growing after each election, immigrant-origin citizens in Germany remain statistically underrepresented. Why is this so? Within the last few years, research on political integration of minorities in Germany has significantly increased. Still, few studies analyse the mechanism explaining this gap and why relatively few candidates come forward. This paper analyses whether and why a candidate’s ethnicity plays a role during the time leading up to an election (candidate selection process). The aim is to highlight strategies used by parties and immigrant-origin candidates in relation to their ethnicity that may increase their chances of being elected. Focussing on the 2017 German Federal Election, this paper presents results of expert interviews conducted with immigrant-origin candidates and local political elite from two political parties, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD). It will identify positive and negative factors that influence the candidate selection process (constituency and list nomination). Ideology, for example, may explain in part why parties support immigrant-origin candidates. However, other aspects, such as the party leader’s strategies, political opportunity structure and other candidate-related characteristics, need to be considered.