Do Non-Citizens Represent Non-Citizens? A Contingent ‘No’

This article fills the gap in existing research on political representation by focusing on a democratic innovation: political representation of non-citizens by an elected body – Council of Foreigners (KAV)– in a German city (Frankfurt). We analyze the descriptive and substantive representation of non-citizen residents of Frankfurt by focusing on the descriptive overlap between the non-citizen population and the composition of the KAV and by analyzing claims raised by KAV. Our research answers the questions who does KAV represent and whether non-citizens represent non-citizens. We empirically test four functions of descriptive representation as outlined by Mansbridge (1999): deliberative, aggregative, empowerment and legitimacy. We find that currently, KAV does not fulfill these functions. Our contribution to the theoretical research is in providing substantive evidence on the connection between descriptive and substantive representation (or in this case the lack thereof) and on the interplay between the key dimensions of the participatory design.