Parties courting Muslim voters in Belgium’s local elections: electoral incentives and ideological tensions

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study examines how political parties in urban Europe are responding to the changing demographic landscape, by focusing on a growing population of immigrant origin voters from Muslim majority countries. The 2018 communal elections in Brussels provide an opportunity to examine how party ideology and commune-level demography interact to make Muslim candidate nominations, and ultimately their election, more or less likely. While generally true that parties of the Left nominate and elect more Muslims than do parties of the Right, by far the greatest difference in inclusiveness was identified within the Left, between the Socialists and the Greens. And while the Greens had a good result in these elections, they did so in communes where fewer Muslims concentrate. While this may not be as important at the national level, where voting rights are more restricted, it suggests the need to qualify claims that electoral incentives - and demography – trump ideology in competitive electoral contexts.