This book analyzes the threshold candidates of immigrant background need to overcome to run for legislative office. Understanding whether political parties are able to adapt their selection criteria helps to assess their ability to respond to the underrepresentation of citizens of immigrant origin in parliament.

Although Germany’s ethnic diversity is on a steady rise, citizens of immigrant origin remain descriptively underrepresented. Despite the pivotal role the intra-party candidate selection plays in shaping who runs for election, the question of how...