ABSTRACT
The political participation of immigrant groups has become a key policy issue in European cities. Local governments in cities as far apart as Athens, Barcelona, Birmingham, Brussels, Marseille, Lisbon and Paris are now making more and more efforts to incorporate their ethnic minorities into decision-making processes (Rogers and Tillie 2001). Some cities have created consultative structures between the local government and immigrant populations to make it easier for ethnic minorities to articulate their political preferences (Anderson 1990). In some countries, including Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands, resident non-citizens have been officially granted local voting rights.
