��ɫ��Ƶ

Adequate political representation of minorities is vital in representative democracies. This not only ensures that minority interests are included in the policy-making process but it has been shown that underrepresentation can lead to lower political participation by minorities. Muslims are one of the fastest growing minority groups in Europe. They constitute approximately 6.81% of the total population which makes Islam the second-largest religion and this is growing rapidly. However, Muslims are significantly underrepresented in many (but not all) European national parliaments.       

This paper presents the results of the cross-national analysis of the factors that have the potential to influence the selection of Muslim candidates at the selection stage and the number of MPs elected at the election stage. It takes advantage of the observed variations in Muslim selection and representation across Europe to address the questions for both stages. For the selection stage, it sets out and tests several hypotheses to explain underrepresentation and variation in the selection of Muslim selection as candidates which include parties’ ideology and candidate selection, parties’ candidate selection rules, Muslims’ geographical concentration and candidate selection, and the proportionality of the electoral system and candidate selection. For the election stage, it tests several hypotheses to explain the underrepresentation and variation in the election of Muslim MPs which include the electoral systems, parties’ seats share and Muslim MPs, and anti-Muslim views among the public.       

It uses a quantitative cross-national research design, employing data from several European countries. This research will make an important contribution to the literature on Muslim representation in Europe, along with broader literature on minority representation. It will fill a significant gap in the literature by developing the cross-national datasets of Muslim candidates and MPs. It will allow us to understand why Muslims are often underrepresented in Europe, and what can be done to address this.

Date: Wednesday 1st of October, Main Building, room C1060,

Time: 15:00