STUDY DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS UNEQUAL DEMOCRACIES: WHO DOES(NOT) HAVE A SEAT IN PARLIAMENT? The social composition of Parliaments in five OSCE countries A translation of the German or i ginal »Wer sitzt(nicht) im Parlament?« by Lea Elsässer and Armin Schäfer June 2022 This study examines the social composition of contemporary national parliaments in five countries(France, United King­dom, Poland, Spain and Tur­key) according to gender, age, education and social class. Women are numerically repre­sented by less than 50 per cent, but the extent of underrep­resentation varies greatly be­tween countries. Younger peo­ple are also underrepresented. The greatest homogeneity is ­to be found with regard to education and social class. The share of representatives with university education is over 85 per cent, while mem­bers of the working class and lower-grade service classes very rarely become members of parliament. Current research suggests that this underrep­resentation can translate into neglected perspectives of possibilities and options in the political process.