European Political Parties and the Representation of Migration-Background Communities
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Constituents at the Gate: European Political Parties and the Representation of Migration-Background Communities The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Brown, Colin. 2015. Constituents at the Gate: European Political Parties and the Representation of Migration-Background Communities. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:14226048 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA © 2015 Colin Michael Brown This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Dissertation Advisor: Colin Michael Brown Professor Peter A. Hall Constituents at the Gate: European Political Parties and the Representation of Migration- Background Communities Abstract This dissertation looks at migrant-background voters in Germany and the Netherlands to explain variations in descriptive representation in these two countries, and to find mechanisms which may explain the broad variations in descriptive representation seen throughout Europe. Open-list, preferential voting systems are examined and shown to provide methods by which migrant-background voters are able to coordinate on candidates from their origin group, increasing their success as candidates being elected to local and national legislatures. Additionally, the effect that initial successful candidates may have on later candidates from the same group is explored. These effects are first examined in this dissertation by comparing across candidates within the Dutch parliamentary elections of 2012, validating earlier survey results suggesting that members of one's own ethnic community can be a strong source of support for migrant- background candidates. Second, a comparison of city councils in Germany operating under different voting rules demonstrates find a significant, independent connection between the presence of preferential voting rules and the representation of immigrant minorities. A final comparison of candidates in two German cities before and after cumulative voting was implemented finds further connections between preferential voting and greater migrant representation, but also shows a number of potential confounding factors, such as the degree to which immigrant groups are formally organized, and finds political parties to be important mediators of these candidates' success. iii Table of Contents Abstract....................................................................................................iii Acknowledgments.........................................................................................vi List of Frequently Used Political Party Abbreviations.............................................viii Chapter 1 — Introduction and Literature Review........................................................1 1.1 Who Are the Current Migrants?.....................................................................3 1.2 Incorporation, Assimilation, and Identities......................................................11 1.3 Theories of Descriptive Representation..........................................................13 1.3.1 Factors affecting minorities in legislatures...............................................16 1.4 Parties and Immigration............................................................................20 1.4.1 Immigration and the Mainstream Left.....................................................21 1.4.2 Immigration beyond the Mainstream Left.................................................25 1.5 Conclusion & Dissertation Outline................................................................27 Chapter 2 — Theories of Migrant Representation.......................................................30 2.1 Electoral Rules.......................................................................................31 2.1.1 Electoral Rules, Preference Voting, and Women's Representation....................32 2.1.2. Representation and Coordination Problems..............................................34 2.2 Parties, Learning, and Positive Feedback.......................................................36 2.2.1 Individual Activists and the Value of Community Membership.........................39 2.3 Demographics and the Structure of the Electorate............................................42 2.4 Goal of the Dissertation............................................................................43 Chapter 3 - The Politics of Migration in Rotterdam....................................................45 3.1 History of Migration in Rotterdam and the Netherlands......................................46 3.2 Migration Politics in Rotterdam and the Netherlands.........................................50 3.3 Makeup of the Current Migrant Community.....................................................56 3.4 Polarization and Dealignment.....................................................................58 3.5 Differences between groups.......................................................................65 3.6 Conclusions...........................................................................................67 Chapter 4 — Migrant-Origin Candidates in the Tweede Kamer.......................................68 4.1 Elections to the Tweede Kamer in 2012.........................................................69 4.2 Preference Votes....................................................................................72 4.3 Hypotheses...........................................................................................73 4.3 Candidates and Data................................................................................76 4.4 Results.................................................................................................86 4.5 Conclusions...........................................................................................87 iv Chapter 5 — Descriptive Representation in the German Cities......................................89 5.1 Communal Elections in Germany..................................................................89 5.2 Factors contributing to descriptive representation............................................99 5.2.1 Demographics..................................................................................99 5.2.2 Institutional Variables.......................................................................103 5.2.3 Political Parties...............................................................................107 5.3 Controls..............................................................................................110 5.4 Model.................................................................................................113 5.5 Results...............................................................................................113 5.6 Future Extensions..................................................................................120 Chapter 6 — Migrant Representation under Cumulative Voting: The Hansestädte Bremen and Hamburg.....................................................................................................124 6.1 Support for Candidates under Cumulative Voting............................................127 6.2 The Change to Cumulative Voting...............................................................129 6.2.1 Bremen.........................................................................................131 6.2.2 Hamburg.......................................................................................141 6.3 Conclusion...........................................................................................157 Chapter 7 — Conclusion...................................................................................159 7.1 Future Research Directions – Germany and The Netherlands...............................160 7.2 Future Research Directions – Comparative.....................................................161 Appendices..................................................................................................166 Appendix A – Data Sources for German Elections..................................................166 Appendix B – Sample Ballots, Hamburg 2008 and 2011...........................................169 References...................................................................................................175 v Acknowledgments This dissertation would not have been possible without a great deal of support from a very large number of people, and it is only though their continued support that it has made it to the final stages. First, I wish to acknowledge the help and support of my dissertation committee: Jennifer Hochschild, Steve Levitsky, Torben Iversen, and most especially my chair, Peter Hall. They have been patient over the course of several years as the focus, cases, data, and pretty much everything but the title changed repeatedly, and as new details and questions emerged out of the soaking and poking process. They have seen far too many drafts, and made more useful comments than anyone should ever be asked to make, and yet they all remained helpful and supportive throughout. I also especially wish to thank Daniel Ziblatt and Han Entzinger who adopted