Abstract
Ethnic minority women tend to be better represented in parliaments than ethnic minority men. What does this mean for their substantive representation? This article makes use of intersectional analysis to study how the relationship between descriptive and substantive representation differs within and between gender and ethnic groups. Drawing on written parliamentary questions and the committee memberships of MPs in seven parliamentary sessions (1995–2012) in the Netherlands, a strong link is found between descriptive and substantive representation. Female ethnic minority MPs more often sit on committees and table questions that address ethnic minority women’s interests than male ethnic minority and female ethnic majority MPs. The link, however, is fragile as it is based on a small number of active MPs. This demonstrates the importance of an intersectional approach to understanding how representation works in increasingly diverse parliaments, which cannot be captured by focusing on gender or ethnicity alone.
Highlights
The under-representation of women and ethnic minorities in elected office is an almost universal phenomenon
The descriptive representation of ethnic minority women in the Dutch parliament has been so successful that the gender gap among minorities has been either negligible or reversed in most years under study
Do ethnic minority women represent ethnic minority women? Our data confirm that female parliamentarians – regardless of party affiliation and ethnicity – are more likely than male parliamentarians to table questions related to the position of ethnic minority women
Summary
The under-representation of women and ethnic minorities in elected office is an almost universal phenomenon. We find a strong empirical link between descriptive and substantive representation, the link is fragile as only a small number of MPs table questions that concern the position of ethnic minority women in society. Still, based on both studies, we expect female ethnic minority MPs to be over-represented on committees addressing minority-related affairs, meaning that the (cumulative) effects of ethnicity and gender on a MP’s propensity to ask parliamentary questions on issues concerning ethnic minority women may at least partly be explained (i.e. mediated) by committee membership.
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