Representing their own? Ethnic minority women in the Dutch Parliament (the Netherlands)

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.

Why it's a good practice: Representation of women by ethnic groups is an issue affecting all societies in consideration of migratory phenomena and mobility policies. Their involvement in active participation to political parties needs to be investigated and politically considered

Read the full analysis: https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/40246970/Representing_their_own_Ethnic_minority_women_in_the_Dutch_Parliament.pdf