The Substantive Representation of Marginalized Groups: What is it and How to Measure It? Towards a New Research Agenda

This paper offers a theoretical framework for the workshop and carves out a new research agenda. Building on recent scholarship on the topic which has expanded from its initial focus on gender inequalities in parliaments and now studies (1) various groups (women, ethnic/racial minorities, low income groups, the elderly, LGBTQI and others), (2) in different venues (in or beyond parliament), (3) across different contexts (in advanced and new democracies) and (4) using different methods and approaches (from small N case studies to large N designs), we discuss the implications for the conceptualization, measurement and broader understanding of substantive representation of marginalized groups. It is clear from the diverse body of work that substantive representation cannot be singularly defined, but can different definitions and approaches be integrated into a more comprehensive framework, and how so? And, given that many studies do not use identical definitions and operationalizations of the term, how to move towards a more comparative understanding of substantive representation across groups, time and space? In order to answer these questions, we revisit traditional group-based approaches to substantive representation and develop a new research agenda that can be used to foster cross-group, cross-country and cross-time comparisons of substantive representation. Moreover, we discuss future challenges, including how to integrate an explicitly ‘intersectional’ perspective that considers interplaying experiences of marginalization (based on gender, age, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, ability and generation) and how to bring ‘ordinary citizens’ back into the measurements and understandings of substantive representation in order to complement the more ‘elite-centered’ focus in extant scholarship.