People with a migration background are numerically underrepresented in the German Bundestag, although their proportion varies greatly between parliamentary factions. Furthermore, MPs with a migrant background are less active in parliamentary debates that deal with economic issues and are therefore less able to highlight inequalities there. Furthermore, candidates with a migrant background also appear to be at a disadvantage when recruiting for political candidacies, even if this field has not yet been researched much. However, it is unclear how the specific migrant background, for example Turkish, Italian or Russian, influences all these dynamics, as migrant politicians have usually been studied as a homogenous group.
The aim of this study is to investigate how the specific migration background of politicians in combination with their socio-economic background influences their political career and political behaviour. Their success in nomination processes within the party, their success in parliamentary elections and their activity in parliament, for example in speeches, will be analysed.
The project has started recently.
