Ethnic violence and substantive representation of minorities in parliament
| Author | Tevfik Murat Yildirim,Sabri Ciftci |
| Published date | 01 June 2021 |
| Date | 01 June 2021 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0192512119891528 |
| Subject Matter | Research Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512119891528
International Political Science Review
2021, Vol. 42(3) 383 –399
© The Author(s) 2019
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DOI: 10.1177/0192512119891528
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Ethnic violence and substantive
representation of minorities in
parliament
Sabri Ciftci
Kansas State University, USA
Tevfik Murat Yildirim
University of Stavanger, Norway
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.
Keywords
Ethnic conflict, Kurdish conflict, parliamentary behavior, representation, Turkish parliament
Introduction
This study explores how the substantive representation of minorities is affected by enduring vio-
lence in an ongoing ethnic conflict. Specifically, it aims to understand why, to what extent, and in
what ways the members of ethnic political parties remain active on the parliamentary floor when
ethnic representation1 takes place in tandem with violence. Our analysis is focused upon the
long-lasting Kurdish conflict in Turkey. We explore the linkages between the number of insurgent
Corresponding author:
Sabri Ciftci, Department of Political Science, Kansas State University, 802 Mid-Campus Drive S, 216 Calvin Hall,
Manhattan, KS 66506, USA.
Email: ciftci@ksu.edu
891528IPS0010.1177/0192512119891528International Political Science ReviewCiftci and Yildirim
research-article2019
Research Article
384 International Political Science Review 42(3)
deaths on the ground and the activities of representatives on the parliamentary floor. We use a
novel dataset that includes both the frequency and content of parliamentary questions (PQs) and
floor speeches as instruments of ethnic representation to provide an empirical account of the asso-
ciation between ethnic violence and parliamentary behavior.
While a large number of studies have examined how political institutions prevent or moderate
ethnic conflict (Alonso and Ruiz-Rufino, 2007; Coakley, 2003; Ghai, 2000; Hanni, 2016; Lijphart,
1977; Shugart, 1992), we have scant knowledge of how violence during an ongoing ethnic conflict
influences the substantive representation of an ethnic minority in the democratic political arena.
Our study is one of the first attempts to close this theoretical gap. By focusing on the parliamentary
behavior of minority representatives, the analysis provides insights about the mechanisms engen-
dering substantive representation of minority groups in ethnic conflicts.
When positioned between a violent insurgent organization and a hostile nationalist elite repre-
senting the majority ethnic group, we contend that minority representatives will engage in a game
of parliamentary behavior that takes into account the advantages and risks stemming from the
preferences of these different actors. Ethnic party representatives will remain disproportionately
active on the parliamentary floor compared to colleagues from other parties insofar as they find
instrumental value in using parliamentary activities to appeal to their base. Ethnic party repre-
sentatives will frequently engage in parliamentary activities geared toward expressions of ethnic
identity as well as toward propagation of the ethnic group’s political and cultural rights as vio-
lence intensifies.
We also theorize that minority representatives will use parliamentary floor procedures selec-
tively to maximize their time on the floor, increase visibility of ethnic demands, or to criticize
government policies. In summary, we argue that the intensity of violence will condition the nature
and extent of parliamentary behavior either by engendering frequent engagement of minority rep-
resentatives or by influencing the substantive focus of such engagement on the floor. Our explana-
tion does not exclude a re-election goal or ideology as determinants of parliamentary behavior.
Rather, it emphasizes the role that continuing violence in ethnic conflict settings has in explaining
the parliamentary behavior of minority representatives.
The study takes advantage of the opportunities presented by the Turkish case that has had an
oscillating record of ethnic political representation against a backdrop of ongoing violence in
Kurdish-majority provinces since the 1980s. We use an original dataset, the Ethnic Parliamentary
Activities Dataset (EPAD), that includes information about all the PQs and speeches of members
of the Turkish parliament, elected from districts located in conflict zones over six legislative terms
(1991–2015). We run a series of negative binomial regression estimations to test hypotheses about
the parliamentary behavior of minority representatives.
The results of our analysis reveal that the intensity of violence significantly increases the
engagement of minority representatives on the parliamentary floor. As violent tactics become prev-
alent, ethnic party representatives from conflict-ridden zones particularly target civil rights and
identity-related issues in the elected assembly. Among the different types of activities that are
available to them, they make frequent use of PQs. These findings imply that violence exerts a sig-
nificant conditional effect on the parliamentary behavior of minority representatives.
Ethnic conflict and representation
Participation in debates in parliament constitutes a significant portion of legislators’ workload
because such debates are key instruments of democratic representation (Bäck and Debus, 2016;
Proksch and Slapin, 2012). Though scholars have yet to reach a consensus over the factors that
motivate representatives to participate in parliamentary activities, much of the literature takes the
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