Does far-right legislative entry affect minority candidate diversity?
Does far-right legislative entry affect minority candidate diversity?
Using a regression discontinuity design, we examine the causal impact of far-right parties’ first-time entry into Swedish municipal politics on the inclusion of candidates from groups frequently targeted by their rhetoric, namely immigrants and sexual minorities. Leveraging validated candidate data, we find that far-right entry has a negative effect on the share of immigrant candidates within mainstream parties. However, this average effect masks important differences across parties. Left-wing parties respond by increasing immigrant recruitment, resulting in a net increase in immigrant representation on ballots. In contrast, right-wing parties reduce their share of immigrant candidates, largely due to limited recruitment of new candidates. These findings highlight how far-right legislative presence shapes the recruitment and retention of minority candidates in democratic politics.
candidates, diversity in politics, far-right, radical right parties, regression discontinuity, representation
1-12
Grahn, Michal
a6c35a2e-0c68-4ef7-bfc8-e79dd7652710
Turnbull-Dugarte, Stuart J.
e25c6280-842c-407f-a961-6472eea5d845
Grahn, Michal
a6c35a2e-0c68-4ef7-bfc8-e79dd7652710
Turnbull-Dugarte, Stuart J.
e25c6280-842c-407f-a961-6472eea5d845
Grahn, Michal and Turnbull-Dugarte, Stuart J.
(2026)
Does far-right legislative entry affect minority candidate diversity?
Political Science Research and Methods, .
(doi:10.1017/psrm.2026.10101).
Abstract
Using a regression discontinuity design, we examine the causal impact of far-right parties’ first-time entry into Swedish municipal politics on the inclusion of candidates from groups frequently targeted by their rhetoric, namely immigrants and sexual minorities. Leveraging validated candidate data, we find that far-right entry has a negative effect on the share of immigrant candidates within mainstream parties. However, this average effect masks important differences across parties. Left-wing parties respond by increasing immigrant recruitment, resulting in a net increase in immigrant representation on ballots. In contrast, right-wing parties reduce their share of immigrant candidates, largely due to limited recruitment of new candidates. These findings highlight how far-right legislative presence shapes the recruitment and retention of minority candidates in democratic politics.
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does-far-right-legislative-entry-affect-minority-candidate-diversity
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Accepted/In Press date: 17 December 2025
e-pub ahead of print date: 27 April 2026
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Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), 2026.
Keywords:
candidates, diversity in politics, far-right, radical right parties, regression discontinuity, representation
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 511811
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/511811
ISSN: 2049-8470
PURE UUID: 985c0143-e79a-43be-b1e3-e8861374699f
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Date deposited: 03 Jun 2026 16:47
Last modified: 04 Jun 2026 02:02
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Author:
Michal Grahn
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