When the Voice Exits: How Domestic Migration Alters Political Representation

• In Event: Representation, Exclusion and the Consequences

Abstract

This paper proposes that domestic migration in post-industrial societies can further inequality in national political representation. This is because migrants tend to be more invested in national politics than non-migrants. As a result, in-migration areas experience the concentration of voters who are active in national politics, while voters in out-migration areas are relatively disengaged from national politics. I argue that this spatial sorting of voters influences party strategies. Focusing on contemporary Germany, where proportional representation means that parties need to maximize votes but have to pay less attention to where they obtain these votes, I propose that mainstream parties are drawn to in-migration areas, where it is easier to mobilize voters. To support this argument, I first utilize a large household panel data to show that migrants are more engaged in national politics than non-migrants. I then use new data on political campaigning in the 2017 and 2021 German federal elections as well as biographical information on political elites to show that Germany’s mainstream parties are more likely to target in-migration areas: they are more likely to campaign and recruit political candidates in these areas. The paper’s findings raise important questions about the political consequences of post-industrialization and skill-biased labor mobility, furthers our understanding of political inequality, and offers a new explanation for the rise of populism.

Author

• Hans Lueders, Princeton University