How do minoritized migrant-background citizens perceive their political representation? An intracategorical perspective

Abstract

Although our insights into numerical political representation are expanding, we know remarkably little about whether minoritized migrant-background citizens feel represented as such. This study addresses to what extent there are intersectional differences in perceived representation among minoritized migrant-background citizens. We synthesize two separate literatures to develop an overarching boundaries-privilege framework, which we apply to the Dutch Ethnic Minority Election Study 2021. This shows for instance, that those with university degrees and those who identify as Muslim perceive lower political representation. This provides particular support for the idea that these perceptions are shaped negatively by exclusions grounded in discursive boundaries.