Selective doors: The role of party ideology, candidate selection rules, and Muslim population in the selection of Muslim minority candidates in European countries

Candidate selection is an integral part of the political process in European democracies as political parties decide who will be on candidate lists. The candidates’ selection process can sometimes disadvantage potential candidates, especially minority candidates, including Muslims. This article has examined the selection of Muslim candidates in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and the UK in 16 elections (2007-2022) and the factors that affect this. The results show that while Muslims are generally underrepresented in terms of candidates, there is significant variation between countries. A number of party-level and constituency-level factors, such as party ideology, the size of the Muslim population, and candidate selection rules, influence the selection of Muslim candidates.