Representing the Unrepresented? - Examining disability representation in the German parliament: A mixed-method approach

This article explores the representation of people with disabilities in the German parliament. Despite a significant portion of the population having disabilities and needing special accommodations, their political representation remains inadequate. We analyze this issue through a mixed-methods approach. First, we examine four proposed bills related to disability rights through roll call votes. Second, we use natural language processing to analyze 76,299 speech acts by German Members of Parliament from 2013 to 2021. Additionally, we conduct semi-structured interviews with two German politicians engaged in the topic of disability to gain insights into descriptive and substantive representation. Our findings reveal that only two MPs openly discuss their disabilities, and representation is primarily led by disability representatives and politicians emphasizing equality and disability issues. Left-leaning parties are more likely to address disability in their speeches, although this is largely attributed to the higher proportion of women in these parties, as gender nullifies the affiliation’s impact. In interviews, the participants stress the importance of greater disability representation in parliament and raise questions about who should substantively represent them. This article underscores the lack of descriptive representation of people with disabilities while highlighting substantive representation through disability spokespersons and women. It calls for further research into the roles of policy spokespersons and the influence of gender when descriptive representation is lacking.