Public discourse on minorities: how discursive opportunities shape representative patterns in the Netherlands and the UK

Abstract

Recent literature on discursive opportunities shows broad consensus on the importance of media communication in determining the success of minority mobilization. However, the impact of media discourse on formal forms of political participation is less clear. This article examines to what extent, if any, media coverage on immigrant minorities shapes the parliamentary activities of “minority representatives” in the Netherlands and the UK. We investigate whether salience and tone on minorities have impact on how often and in what ways minority members of parliament address ethnic and/or religious constituencies. To study this relationship between media coverage and parliamentary activity, we conduct two separate content analyses of parliamentary questions and newspapers between 2002 and 2012 in the Netherlands and the UK. Multivariate analyses reveal that a more negative tone in newspaper coverage results in more suppressive framing in the Dutch parliament. Our findings for the British case indicate a negative effect of media salience and minority presence on parliamentary salience.

Keywords:

• discursive opportunities
• minority
• political representation
• the Netherlands
• the UK

Notes

1 Accessed at: [http://www.cbs.nl/nlNL/menu/themas/dossiers/allochtonen/methoden/begrippen/default.htm?ConceptID=37.

2 Accessed at: Gardener and Connolly (2005), (date of access June 27, 2016).

3 For a more detailed discussion on identifying MPs of minority origin, see: Bloemraad 2013. The minority background of relevant MPs was further checked from news reports and websites of relevant organizations in both countries. These organizations are the Institute for Public and Politics (Instituut voor Publiek en Politiek) in the Netherlands and Operation Black Vote in the UK.

4 Questions posed by Dutch MPs in the Dutch National Parliament (Tweede Kamer) are available on the following website: https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/zoeken/parlementaire_documenten. The data for the case of the Netherlands was collected between August 1, 2013 and August 20, 2013; search terms for the Dutch case: Migrant* OR immigrant* OR minderheden OR niet-Westers* OR allochto* OR Meisjesbesnijdenis OR Imam OR integratie OR moskee OR gezinsher! OR inburgering OR Islamitisch OR Moslim* OR Turk* OR Marokka* OR Surina* OR Antillia* Questions posed by British MPs in the British National Parliament (Lower House) are available on the following website: http://search-material.parliament.uk/search. The data for the case of the UK was collected between July 11, 2016 and July 30, 2016; Search terms for the British case: Migrant OR Immigrant OR minority OR Muslim OR non-Western OR Indian OR Pakistani OR Caribbean OR Bangladeshi OR Chinese OR Asian OR African OR Ethnic OR imam OR cleric OR Sheik OR multicultural OR multiracial OR racial OR Afro OR coloured OR mosque OR Headscarf OR hijab OR Islamic.

5 Fifteen of those documents are counted twice as MPs of minority origin posed them collaboratively.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK): [Grant Number 2214/A].