How to sustain inclusive politics: mobilising and retaining underrepresented groups in politics

​​​Join us on Zoom for the next entry in our academic series with Dr Katharina Lawall as we look at the challenges facing sustaining inclusivity in politcs.

Much effort has gone into making politics more inclusive and empowering underrepresented groups like women and individuals with migrant backgrounds into political careers. Yet, even once underrepresented groups are elected, they are often more likely to drop out of office. Why do these gaps in political retention occur, and how can we fix them? This talk will cover research on this question using original survey data from the UK, and evidence from a field experiment with civil society partner organisations showing that peer support networks can boost retention.

Dr Lavall is a Lecturer in Comparative Politics at the university of Reading. She works on comparative political behaviour with a paticular focus on affective polarization, political behaviour, campaigns and gender.