How do voters react to diversity in politics?

Under what circumstances are voters likely to vote for women, ethnic minorities and Muslims in politics? I studied voter reactions to women, ethnic minority, and Muslim politicians, as well as how women, ethnic minorities, and Muslims themselves respond to in-group politicians. I specifically explored how policy stereotypes influence these perceptions. I identify two main schools of thought in the literature: “unjust” stereotypes, which reflected negative associations with minority politicians, and “useful” stereotypes, which helped voters infer policy positions based on gender or ethnicity. Through a meta-analysis of existing candidate experiments, I revealed no significant discrimination against politicians of colour, mostly based on US data. In Europe, I also found no significant discrimination against politicians with a migration background, though I found very strong discrimination against Muslim politicians. Voters tend to stereotype Muslim politicians, and I research the extent to which voters stereotype Muslim politicians as being homophobic. I revealed that discrimination against Muslim politicians disappears if they distance themselves from stereotypical policies, a strategy I termed “broadstancing.” This suggests that voters use identity as a proxy for policy, but when fears of certain policies are removed in the eyes of voters, discrimination against Muslim politicians disappears, pointing towards the use of “useful” stereotypes that make it easier to decide who to vote for. Muslim voters did not strongly prefer in-group candidates, except for in the Netherlands, where they are also more likely to vote for DENK because of a preference for politicians who stand for Muslim interests. My findings suggest that Muslim voters are less likely to use identity as a proxy for policy because they are more aware of the constraints faced by Muslim politicians in representing their interests.