Voting of First and Second Generation Immigrant Groups in the Netherlands

Over the past two decades, states have grown increasingly ethnically diverse. In Western Europe this has mainly been the result of Post WWII Immigration in between 1945-1975. There is relatively little known about the voting behavior of immigrant groups at national elections. This paper examines the voting behavior of first and second generation immigrant groups in the Netherlands. The question that stands central is whether Dutch citizens with a non-western background, of the first and second generation, vote different than voters with Dutch origins? Using immigrant panel data from the LISS (Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences) it shows that non-western immigrants indeed vote differently than, Dutch voters and those with a Western background. Voters with a non-western background vote dominantly for the Dutch labor party, PvdA.