<p>The development that the Swedish society has experienced during the last four decades and the higher part of the population coming from foreign countries calls for a more intensive research on the situation of these groups. The purpose of this study is to find explanations of the differences in the share of immigrant politicians in Linköping and Norrköping. The starting point of the study is a model of factors assumed to affect the representation of immigrants in the municipality assemblies. The immigrant composition, the municipality organization and the view of democracy of the politicians, are all assumed to affect the civic participation. The civic participation is then assumed to affect the representation of immigrants in the municipality. The model stipulates that in a municipality with a low representation of immigrants you can expect an immigrant composition of low participating immigrant groups. Furthermore the model stipulates that in such a municipality you will also find a more participationhostile organization and politicians with a less participationfriendly view of democracy. The opposite is true for a municipality with a high level of representation of immigrants. When tested on Linköping and Norrköping the model well seemed to explain the differences in the level of representation of immigrants in the two municipalities.</p>

The development that the Swedish society has experienced during the last four decades and the higher part of the population coming from foreign countries calls for a more intensive research on the situation of these groups. The purpose of this study is to find explanations of the differences in the share of immigrant politicians in Linköping and Norrköping. The starting point of the study is a model of factors assumed to affect the representation of immigrants in the municipality assemblies. The immigrant composition, the municipality organization and the view of democracy of the politicians, are all assumed to affect the civic participation. The civic participation is then assumed to affect the representation of immigrants in the municipality. The model stipulates that in a municipality with a low representation of immigrants you can expect an immigrant composition of low participating immigrant groups. Furthermore the model stipulates that in such a municipality you will also find a more participationhostile organization and politicians with a less participationfriendly view of democracy. The opposite is true for a municipality with a high level of representation of immigrants. When tested on Linköping and Norrköping the model well seemed to explain the differences in the level of representation of immigrants in the two municipalities.