The diversity gap in the Portuguese and Spanish parliaments: descriptive representation through an intersectional perspective

Abstract

This chapter constitutes the first attempt at examining the extent to which the diversity represented in Iberian legislatures reflects the existing diversity in the population, a crucial dimension on which to evaluate the quality of democracy. Drawing on original biographical data of MPs, our survey of diversity looks at gender, age, ethnicity, sexuality and ableness, and it pays attention to the intersection of gender with these markers of identity. The results show that, whereas women’s presence has significantly increased in the last decade, the other minority groups remain remarkably underrepresented. Crossparty differences are rather small, with the exception of the tendency for left-wing parties to include more LGBT MPs and younger MPs. Our exploratory analysis also indicates that gender interacts with the above mentioned markers of identity in specific ways. Men MPs outnumber women MPs in all social groups (migrant origin and ethnic minority, LGBT, and disability) but youth.