Political Underrepresentation and Domestic Terrorism: The Deficiency of Minority Descriptive Representation as a Causal Factor of Violent Radicalization in Western European Democracies

McGraw, Erica Shannon (2016) Political Underrepresentation and Domestic Terrorism: The Deficiency of Minority Descriptive Representation as a Causal Factor of Violent Radicalization in Western European Democracies. Undergraduate thesis, under the direction of Benjamin Jones from Political Science, The University of Mississippi.

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Abstract

Electoral systems are vital in controlling the levels of minority descriptive representation in a government because each system contains characteristics that make it easier or more difficult for a member of a minority group to be elected to office. Because of this power, I focus on the role of electoral systems in Western European democracies as a possible, causal factor of domestic terrorism by way of their effect on the level of a country’s minority descriptive representation, and therefore, levels of minority inclusion. To test my hypotheses, I use both quantitative and qualitative data in linear regression models, and a comparative case study of France and Denmark. The results of the data analysis indicate that countries that employ more exclusive electoral systems experience significantly higher rates of domestic terrorism than countries that employ more inclusive electoral systems. The findings of this study present a correlation between the descriptive underrepresentation of minority groups in Western European democracies and the corresponding levels of domestic terrorism experienced by these countries.

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