A Lasting Impact?: On the Legislative Activities of Immigrant-origin Parliamentarians in Germany

• Autores: Andreas M. Wüst
• Localización: The Journal of legislative studies, ISSN 1357-2334, Vol. 20, Nº. 4, 2014, págs. 495-515
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The article analyses the degree of substantive representation by immigrant-origin MPs in Germany's national and state parliaments. To test the expectation that an immigration background increases the likelihood of engaging with migration-related topics, an analysis is undertaken of all parliamentary questions (PQs) formally asked by immigrant-origin MPs in Germany's national and state parliaments between 1987 and 2009. By controlling for several time-invariant and time-variant factors, the longitudinal analysis confirms that a visible immigration background results in asking more migration-related PQs. While several contextual, party-political and personal (career) factors influence the likelihood of asking such questions in parliament, there is no evidence for a decrease over time. Presence effects are significant and of lasting nature. This means that the parliamentary presence of immigrant-origin MPs with a visible background goes beyond sheer symbolic representation.