Who Runs? Who Wins? Descriptive Representation in German Federal Elections

Descriptive representation—the extent to which political elites mirror the population on key demographic characteristics—is considered a foundational element of democratic legitimacy. While most existing research has examined the composition of elected political bodies, especially with regard to gender, this study broadens the scope to include both elected and non-elected candidates, and explores the effects of gender, age and immigrant origin. Using newly harmonized data from the four most recent German federal elections, we investigate whether representation gaps emerge during the candidacy or electoral stage, and explore how gender, age, and immigrant origin interact in shaping political representation. The findings show inconsistent biases across the two electoral stages, the most pronounced effect being an under-representation of younger and older citizens.