Tracing roots of group representation among MPs with immigrant backgrounds: A content analysis on parliamentary questions in the Netherlands

Abstract

This study investigates the representative patterns of MPs with immigrant backgrounds in the case of the Netherlands. Departing from existing literature on minority representatives, we claim that minority representatives can adopt suppressive, as well as supportive, framings when addressing constituencies with whom they share similar backgrounds. A content analysis was conducted on the parliamentary work of minority representatives to detect which frames those representatives adopt when they address cultural and/or religious rights and liberties. As for explanatory variables, we examined the role of the retreat from multicultural policies in the Netherlands on the one hand and individual and group related variables on the other. Our content analysis reveals no fundamental linear shift towards more suppressive framing during the 2002–2017 period. Minority MPs from progressive parties are more likely to use supportive frames than those MPs from conservative parties. Coming from a Turkish background – the most organized ethnic group with the highest social capital in the country – significantly adds to the likelihood of a supportive form of representation. Gender is another significant variable explaining where minority representatives stand, with male MPs being more inclined to use supportive frames on ethnic and/or religious rights and liberties than female MPs.

Who favor in-group politicians? In-group voting in France, Germany and the Netherlands and the challenges to the descriptive and substantive representation of Muslims

“…Exactly on those three topics on which non-religious and Muslim voters differ, immigration, Islam, and same-sex adoption, the voting likelihoods are the lowest. This contributes to "suppressive representation" in which Muslim politicians are incentivized to vocally disagree with most Muslim voters (Aydemir and Vliegenthart 2016; and contribute to feelings of betrayal and misrepresentation (Akachar, Celis, and Severs 2017;Anderson 1997) on the part of Muslim citizens.…”

“…The implications of this paper's conclusions are immense. Muslim politicians are electorally incentivized to actively speak out against the policy positions Muslims tend to prefer, garnering representation that is not substantive but suppressive (Aydemir and Vliegenthart 2016;, which leads to feelings of betrayal and misrepresentation amongst Muslims (Akachar, Celis, and Severs 2017) and ultimately leaving minority voters feeling unseen and unheard in the political systems we call our democracies.…”

Political narratives in representation: Maiden speeches of ethnic minority members of parliament

“…The progressive‐conservative dimension (GAL/TAN) of political parties’ social and cultural values (Bakker et al., 2020) trumps economic left‐right cleavages in explaining differences in their substantive representation of minorities. Ethnic minority MPs from culturally progressive parties adopt more supportive framings of cultural and/or religious rights and liberties, while ethnic minority MPs from more conservative parties adopt more suppressive frames (Aydemir & Vliegenthart, 2021). We explore whether the same progressive/conservative divide holds for mentioning of minority identities in maiden speeches.…”