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Personalized versus partisan representation in the speeches of migrant members of parliament in the German Bundestag

Bäck, Hanna LU orcid and Debus, Marc (2020) In Ethnic and Racial Studies 43(9). p.1673-1691
Abstract

Given the increasingly polarized debates in many modern democracies over migration and integration, the behaviour of members of parliament (MPs) with a migrant background has important implications for patterns of representation. Drawing on role congruity theory, we hypothesize that MPs with a migrant background deliver more legislative speeches in debates that are of interest for citizens with a migrant background. The findings, which are based on speeches delivered in the German Bundestag between 2009 and 2013, indicate that MPs of immigrant origin, in particular those MPs who have a “visible” migrant background, deliver significantly more speeches in debates focusing on civil rights. We also find that migrant MPs who are elected via... (More)

Given the increasingly polarized debates in many modern democracies over migration and integration, the behaviour of members of parliament (MPs) with a migrant background has important implications for patterns of representation. Drawing on role congruity theory, we hypothesize that MPs with a migrant background deliver more legislative speeches in debates that are of interest for citizens with a migrant background. The findings, which are based on speeches delivered in the German Bundestag between 2009 and 2013, indicate that MPs of immigrant origin, in particular those MPs who have a “visible” migrant background, deliver significantly more speeches in debates focusing on civil rights. We also find that migrant MPs who are elected via the party list, as opposed to MPs who are directly elected in a district, are more likely to speak in debates on citizen and minority rights, suggesting that the parliamentary party leadership strategically selects migrant MPs as speakers in certain parliamentary debates.

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organization
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type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
electoral system, Germany, Members of parliament with migrant background, parliamentary debates, representation, role congruity theory
in
Ethnic and Racial Studies
volume
43
issue
9
pages
19 pages
publisher
Routledge
external identifiers
  • scopus:85070911351
ISSN
0141-9870
DOI
10.1080/01419870.2019.1654112
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
0b226478-d7ce-43f2-9677-3cd40d873d6c
date added to LUP
2019-09-05 12:28:57
date last changed
2024-02-15 21:00:00
@article{0b226478-d7ce-43f2-9677-3cd40d873d6c,
  abstract     = {{<p>Given the increasingly polarized debates in many modern democracies over migration and integration, the behaviour of members of parliament (MPs) with a migrant background has important implications for patterns of representation. Drawing on role congruity theory, we hypothesize that MPs with a migrant background deliver more legislative speeches in debates that are of interest for citizens with a migrant background. The findings, which are based on speeches delivered in the German Bundestag between 2009 and 2013, indicate that MPs of immigrant origin, in particular those MPs who have a “visible” migrant background, deliver significantly more speeches in debates focusing on civil rights. We also find that migrant MPs who are elected via the party list, as opposed to MPs who are directly elected in a district, are more likely to speak in debates on citizen and minority rights, suggesting that the parliamentary party leadership strategically selects migrant MPs as speakers in certain parliamentary debates.</p>}},
  author       = {{Bäck, Hanna and Debus, Marc}},
  issn         = {{0141-9870}},
  keywords     = {{electoral system; Germany; Members of parliament with migrant background; parliamentary debates; representation; role congruity theory}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{9}},
  pages        = {{1673--1691}},
  publisher    = {{Routledge}},
  series       = {{Ethnic and Racial Studies}},
  title        = {{Personalized versus partisan representation in the speeches of migrant members of parliament in the German Bundestag}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2019.1654112}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/01419870.2019.1654112}},
  volume       = {{43}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}