Details
| Originalsprache | Englisch |
|---|---|
| Seiten (von - bis) | 1999-2017 |
| Seitenumfang | 19 |
| Fachzeitschrift | European Political Science Review |
| Jahrgang | 64 |
| Ausgabenummer | 4 |
| Publikationsstatus | Veröffentlicht - 26 Aug. 2025 |
Abstract
A well-established body of research has highlighted the importance of geographic representation in party-centred political systems. In party-centred systems, geographic ties are commonly expressed through non-binding legislative instruments such as parliamentary questions. While this literature has advanced our understanding of representation in parliamentary systems, there are notable gaps in the existing research. Most importantly, previous studies have almost exclusively analysed geographic representation in national politics, where legislators represent comparatively large electoral districts. In contrast, this study focuses on patterns of geographic representation at the local level to understand whether and how specific neighbourhoods are represented in local politics. By studying parliamentary questions in 12 German city councils, we assess party efforts to represent their electoral strongholds. Methodologically, we go beyond existing research on geographic representation by building comprehensive dictionaries to assess geographic representation based on geolocated data from Wikipedia and OpenStreetMap. The results show that geographic representation is a common feature of local politics and that parties tend to focus on areas where they are electorally strong, particularly when they are incentivized to do so by the electoral system and when their electorate is highly localized.
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
- Sozialwissenschaften (insg.)
- Soziologie und Politikwissenschaften
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in: European Political Science Review, Jahrgang 64, Nr. 4, 26.08.2025, S. 1999-2017.
Publikation: Beitrag in Fachzeitschrift › Artikel › Forschung › Peer-Review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Geographic representation in local politics
T2 - Evidence from parliamentary questions in Germany city councils
AU - Harmening, Morten
AU - Baumert, Jona-Frederik
AU - Block, Sebastian Johannes
AU - Gross, Martin
AU - Nyhuis, Dominic
AU - Velimsky, Jan A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s). European Journal of Political Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Consortium for Political Research.
PY - 2025/8/26
Y1 - 2025/8/26
N2 - A well-established body of research has highlighted the importance of geographic representation in party-centred political systems. In party-centred systems, geographic ties are commonly expressed through non-binding legislative instruments such as parliamentary questions. While this literature has advanced our understanding of representation in parliamentary systems, there are notable gaps in the existing research. Most importantly, previous studies have almost exclusively analysed geographic representation in national politics, where legislators represent comparatively large electoral districts. In contrast, this study focuses on patterns of geographic representation at the local level to understand whether and how specific neighbourhoods are represented in local politics. By studying parliamentary questions in 12 German city councils, we assess party efforts to represent their electoral strongholds. Methodologically, we go beyond existing research on geographic representation by building comprehensive dictionaries to assess geographic representation based on geolocated data from Wikipedia and OpenStreetMap. The results show that geographic representation is a common feature of local politics and that parties tend to focus on areas where they are electorally strong, particularly when they are incentivized to do so by the electoral system and when their electorate is highly localized.
AB - A well-established body of research has highlighted the importance of geographic representation in party-centred political systems. In party-centred systems, geographic ties are commonly expressed through non-binding legislative instruments such as parliamentary questions. While this literature has advanced our understanding of representation in parliamentary systems, there are notable gaps in the existing research. Most importantly, previous studies have almost exclusively analysed geographic representation in national politics, where legislators represent comparatively large electoral districts. In contrast, this study focuses on patterns of geographic representation at the local level to understand whether and how specific neighbourhoods are represented in local politics. By studying parliamentary questions in 12 German city councils, we assess party efforts to represent their electoral strongholds. Methodologically, we go beyond existing research on geographic representation by building comprehensive dictionaries to assess geographic representation based on geolocated data from Wikipedia and OpenStreetMap. The results show that geographic representation is a common feature of local politics and that parties tend to focus on areas where they are electorally strong, particularly when they are incentivized to do so by the electoral system and when their electorate is highly localized.
KW - Germany
KW - OpenStreetMap
KW - Wikipedia
KW - geographic representation
KW - local politics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105005206614&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/1475-6765.70019
DO - 10.1111/1475-6765.70019
M3 - Article
VL - 64
SP - 1999
EP - 2017
JO - European Political Science Review
JF - European Political Science Review
SN - 1755-7739
IS - 4
ER -