Muslims in British Local Government : Representing Minority Interests in Hackney, Newham, and Tower Hamlets

This book explores which factors facilitate or hinder effective Muslim political representation in Britain, and how representation styles of Muslim elected officials shape these factors. This book investigates whether the presence of Muslim representatives in city councils improves substantive representation of Muslim interests across 32 London boroughs. It theorizes that descriptive representation of minorities leads to improved responsiveness to minority interests contingent on the percentage of minority representatives, the proportion of minorities in the district, level of party fragmentation among minority representatives, their political incorporation, and the electoral competitiveness of the district. It uses multivariate regression analysis to test the effects of these five explanatory variables. It validates the quantitative findings with case studies of three London boroughs while also investigating the role of representational styles of Muslim councillors on their political attitudes and behavior. 1 Introduction: Muslims in Western Politics 1 -- 2 Muslims and Minority Politics in Britain 10 -- 3 Government Responsiveness to Muslim Interests 51 -- 4 Across London Boroughs 71 -- 5 London Borough Councils and Tower Hamlets 103 -- 6 London Borough of Newham 142 -- 7 London Borough of Hackney 163 -- 8 Comparative Analysis and Muslims in National Government 181 -- 9 Conclusion 199. by Eren Tatari. Includes bibliographical references and index.