Representation, minorities and electoral reform: the case of the Palestinian minority in Israel

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22 Scopus citations

Abstract

The article examines the impact of the recent change in the electoral threshold in Israel, from 2 per cent to 3.25 per cent, on the political representation of the Palestinian minority in Israel in the 2015 national election. I argue that the change in the threshold had a direct impact on Palestinian electoral representation and that this change provided incentives to Palestinian leadership to broaden their appeal and become more inclusive in their agenda. Following recent scholarship on ethnic minorities and employing the concept of “representational claims”, I suggest that through the provision of electoral incentives, institutional design can influence not only the degree of representation, but its substantive claims as well.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2039-2057
Number of pages19
JournalEthnic and Racial Studies
Volume40
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - 26 Sep 2017

Keywords

  • Israel
  • Palestinians
  • Power-sharing
  • democracy
  • ethnicity
  • representation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Cultural Studies
  • Anthropology
  • Sociology and Political Science

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