RESUMO
The legislatures of Colombia and Ecuador have reserved seats for their non-resident citizens (emigrants). This paper analyses the relationship between the formal, descriptive, and substantive dimensions of emigrant representation in their homeland legislatures. The analysis compares the legislative work of emigrant MPs (EMPs) with the legislative work of non-emigrant MPs (NEMPs) in Ecuador and Colombia. It presents a mixed methods approach that combines a quantitative text analysis based on an original dataset -composed of 35,446 floor speeches- with in-depth interviews with six EMPs. The results show that emigrant-related issues are significantly more salient in the legislature of Ecuador and Colombia suggesting that the effect of emigrant-reserved seats is correlated to the size of the external district. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that EMPs have a 'mixed agenda' composed by emigrant and domestic-related issues. Finally, the article shows that the probability of classifying a speech as emigrant-related increases when it is given by an EMP and not a NEMP. This effect is stronger in Ecuador than in Colombia. All in all, the article shows evidence that configurations that allocate several EMPs are more efficient in achieving substantive representation.
RESUMO
Resumo Neste artigo, tenho por objetivo debater a participação de LGBT na política institucional brasileira, focando nas candidatas que se autoidentificam como travestis/transexuais. Primeiramente, faço revisão do debate acadêmico sobre representação política e representação descritiva. Utilizando dados quantitativos, investigo o perfil social destas candidatas (sexo, idade, escolaridade, ideologia política, performance eleitoral etc.) contrastando-as com candidatos LGB. Por fim, analiso qualitativamente o material de campanha (banners, websites/ blogs, perfis no Facebook/twitter, vídeos on-line) das candidaturas trans. Os dados quantitativos e qualitativos nos ajudaram a responder a algumas questões: a) quais são as semelhanças/diferenças entre os perfis sociais das candidatas trans e LGB?; b) as candidatas trans têm envolvimento prévio com o ativismo político LGBT ou estamos testemunhando novo tipo de engajamento na política sexual?; c) elas se utilizam da identidade travesti/transexual (e suas experiências de discriminação) como um tipo de capital político?; d) suas propostas políticas estão comprometidas com as demandas do ativismo LGBT?.
Resumen Este artículo tiene como objetivo debatir la participación de LGBT en la política institucional brasileña, focalizando en las candidatas que se autoidentifican como travestis/transexuales. En primer término, se hace una revisión del debate académico sobre representación política y representación descriptiva. Utilizando datos cuantitativos, se investiga el perfil social de dichas candidatas (sexo, edad, escolaridad, ideología política, performance electoral, etc.), contrastándolas con candidatos LGB. Luego, se analiza cualitativamente el material de campaña de las canditatas trans (banners, websites, blogs, perfiles de Facebook/Twitter, videos online). Los datos cuantitativos y cualitativos han contribuido a responder algunas cuestiones: a) ¿Cuáles son las semejanzas/diferencias entre los perfiles sociales de las candidatas trans y LGB? b) ¿Tienen las candidatas trans un involucramiento previo con el activismo político LGBT o estamos frente a un nuevo tipo de compromiso en la política sexual? c) ¿Se valen estas candidatas de la identidad travesti/transexual (y sus experiencias de discriminación) como un tipo de capital político? Y d), ¿sus propuestas políticas están comprometidas con las demandas del activismo LGBT?.
Abstract In this article, I discuss LGBT participation in Brazilian institutional politics, by focusing on candidates who identify as transgender. Firstly, I review the academic debate on political and descriptive representation. Using quantitative data, I investigate the social profile of those candidates (sex, age, education, political ideology, electoral performance, etc.), by contrasting them with LGB candidates. Finally, I conduct a qualitative analysis of electoral propaganda (banners, websites/blogs, Facebook/twitter pages, online videos) for transgender candidates. Both quantitative and qualitative data address the following questions: a) what are the similarities/differences between Transgender and LGB candidates' social profiles? b) are transgender candidates previously involved in LGBT activism or this is a new type of engagement in sexual politics? c) do they use their transgender identity (and their experiences of discrimination) as political capital)? d) do their political programs engage the demands of LGBT activism?.