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Parliamentary Questions as Instruments of Substantive Representation: Visible Minorities in the UK House of Commons, 2005-10
Saalfeld, Thomas (2011): „Parliamentary Questions as Instruments of Substantive Representation: Visible Minorities in the UK House of Commons, 2005-10“. Abingdon: Routledge.
Faculty/Professorship:
Author:
Title of the Journal:
The Journal of Legislative Studies
ISSN:
1357-2334
Publisher Information:
Year of publication:
2011
Volume:
17
Issue:
3
Pages:
Language:
English
Abstract:
Does the growing descriptive representation of minority-ethnic legislators in the British House of Commons have any implications for the substantive representation of minority-related issues in the UK Parliament? This study is based on a data set of over 16,000 parliamentary questions tabled by 50 British backbench Members of Parliament (MPs) in the 2005-2010 Parliament, including the 16 immigrant-origin MPs with a ‘visible-minority’ background. Based on a series of multivariate models, it is found that all British MPs sampled for this study – irrespective of their ethnic status – respond to electoral incentives arising from the socio-demographic composition of their constituencies: Minority and non-minority MPs alike ask more questions relating to minority concerns, if they represent constituencies with a high share of non-White residents. Controlling for that general effect, however, MPs with a visible-minority status do tend to ask significantly more questions about ethnic diversity and equality issues.
Keywords: ;  ;  ;  ; 
parliamentary questions
House of Commons
ethnic minorities
representation
Great Britain
Type:
Article
published:
November 16, 2012
Permalink
https://fis.uni-bamberg.de/handle/uniba/496