Ethnic violence and substantive representation of minorities in parliament

Abstract

This study seeks to explain why, to what extent, and in what ways ethnic party representatives remain active on the parliamentary floor when the political representation of minority groups takes place alongside ethnic conflict. To test hypotheses related to these questions, we utilize an original dataset of 14,000 parliamentary questions and speeches and background characteristics of 372 representatives in Turkey. The dataset spans many episodes of the Kurdish conflict over six legislative terms (1991–2015). Our empirical analyses show that the parliamentary behavior of ethnic party representatives is directly linked to the intensity of violence between the state and the insurgent group. We specifically demonstrate that ethnic party representatives, compared to other representatives in conflict-ridden provinces, are more active on the floor and focus more heavily on civil rights and identity issues. These findings contribute to our understanding of various linkages between identity and the substantive representation of minorities during violent conflict.