The Electoral Effects of the Descriptive Representation of Ethnic Minority Groups in Australia and the United Kingdom

Forthcoming in Party Politics

39 Pages Posted: 6 Jan 2014 Last revised: 18 Sep 2014

See all articles by Joshua Zingher

Joshua Zingher

Old Dominion University

Benjamin D. Farrer

State University of New York (SUNY) - Department of Political Science

Date Written: January 5, 2014

Abstract

In this paper we assess the electoral effects of the nomination of ethnic minority candidates. We argue that descriptive representation is an important factor in how parties in SMD systems establish their coalitions over multiple elections. We demonstrate this by showing that descriptive representation has a consistent effect on voting behavior, and thus that parties can rely on descriptive representation to win over specific segments of the voting population. Previous studies have been limited to single election years and single countries, but we collect original data from multiple election cycles in Australia and the United Kingdom to test our argument. We find that descriptive representation is consistently associated with a 10-percentage point bump in support from ethnic minority independents and Labour supporters. We conclude by highlighting the importance of this finding for party competition.

Suggested Citation

Zingher, Joshua and Farrer, Benjamin D., The Electoral Effects of the Descriptive Representation of Ethnic Minority Groups in Australia and the United Kingdom (January 5, 2014). Forthcoming in Party Politics, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2374914 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2374914

Joshua Zingher (Contact Author)

Old Dominion University ( email )

Norfolk, VA 23529-0222
United States
3199296320 (Phone)

Benjamin D. Farrer

State University of New York (SUNY) - Department of Political Science ( email )

Binghamton, NY 13902-6000
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
78
Abstract Views
571
Rank
559,388
PlumX Metrics