Who Cares about Representation?: Race, Ethnicity, and Legitimacy in Westminster Democracies

An incisive analysis of how the election of ethnic-minority representatives affects people's support for their government, and of the diverging perceptions between minority and white voters.

While almost every advanced democracy has become more ethnically diverse over the past century, ethnic minorities remain dramatically underrepresented in elected government positions in proportion to the general population. Do these differences in representation affect how voters perceive the legitimacy of the political system?

Drawing on surveys and election studies in Canada, Australia, and the UK, Feodor Snagovsky examines whether the ethnic composition of legislatures affects how responsive both white and non-white voters think their political system is to their interests. He finds only limited evidence that this descriptive representation shapes how ethnic-minority voters feel about their governments. More concerning is the belief among many ethnic-majority voters that the presence of non-white legislators threatens their own political interests.

Who Cares About Representation? challenges our assumptions about why representation matters and reveals white grievance as a pressing problem for pluralism and liberal democracy.