Recruitment and Representation of Ethnic Minorities under Proportional Representation

Abstract

This article explores the effects that electoral rules, party ideologies, and structural characteristics of minority communities have on party system responses to the need of accommodating the country’s ethnic diversity. The article uses an original dataset on parliamentary representation in Bulgaria to analyze candidate selection practices of electorally successful political parties. The article’s findings highlight the need to qualify the academic discussion of beneficial effects of proportional representation (PR) electoral rules for minority representation. The authors report the failures of demographically large ethnic groups to secure close-to-proportional representation under Bulgaria’s choice of PR electoral system. The authors also identify costs in terms of reduced competitiveness and accountability that PR-facilitated electoral success of ethnic minority parties can impose on minority constituencies.