scholarly journals The Political Integration of Immigrants: How Pre- and Postmigration Contexts Matter

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jörg Dollmann
Keyword(s):  
Political Trust ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Integration ◽  
Political Behaviour ◽  
Immigrant Background ◽  
Integration Of Immigrants ◽  
Democratic System ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Attitudinal Dimension ◽  
Large Representative

AbstractThis study examines the political integration of immigrants in Germany and asks whether immigrants and their descendants show similar rates of political participation and expression of political attitudes as the population without an immigrant background. Furthermore, the study focusses on the pre- and postmigration context of immigrants and analyses whether immigrants differ in their level of political integration depending on (1) whether they come from more or less authoritarian regimes and (2) whether they have experienced discrimination in the receiving context. Using data from CILS4EU-DE, with a large representative sample of (children of) immigrants and non-immigrants in Germany, we observe differences in the political integration between immigrants and non-immigrants only on the attitudinal level, with immigrants showing lower levels of political trust but also slightly higher levels of satisfaction with the democratic system in Germany. When focussing on the effects of the pre- and the postmigration context, we observe differential results for the behavioural and attitudinal dimension: when immigrants stem from more authoritarian countries as well as when they have experienced more discrimination in the receiving context, this seems to mobilise respondents with respect to their political behaviour; however, it results in lower levels of political integration on the attitudinal dimension.

scholarly journals How might reform of the political system appeal to discontented citizens?

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Seyd ◽  
John Curtice ◽  
Jonathan Rose
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Political Trust ◽  
Political Reform ◽  
Limited Range ◽  
The Political ◽  
Institutional Changes ◽  
Institutional Reforms ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Using Data

In Britain, levels of political trust have declined, stimulating policy makers to explore ways of appealing to discontented citizens. One such initiative involves reform of the political system. Yet, this raises the question of which types of political reform are likely to appeal to discontented citizens. Existing studies have examined how individuals respond to political reforms, yet these studies only consider a limited range of institutional changes. Scholars and policy makers thus know little about the popular appeal of a wider set of institutional reforms. Taking advantage of proposals for political reform in Britain, this article considers public reactions to a wide range of institutional changes. Using data from the 2011 British Social Attitudes survey, we find that direct democratic reforms are not the only changes that appeal to discontented citizens. Instead, policy makers may also appeal to the distrustful via reforms that allow voters more control over their political representatives.

Re-Discovering the Importance of Citizenship Through Immigrants' Experiences: Naturalization and Political Integration in Padua, Italy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eriselda Shkopi ◽  
Zana Vathi
Keyword(s):  
State Level ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Integration ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Integration Of Immigrants ◽  
Political Agents ◽  
Italian Context ◽  
The Right

This paper focuses on processes of political integration for immigrants in the Italian context, constituting as it does an understudied topic. It does so by looking at one specific community, Albanian immigrants, who have been typically heavily stigmatized. While Albanian immigration in Italy has been a focus of previous research, no consideration so far has been given to naturalization and its influence on other political processes at the level of immigrants’ daily lives. Through the meanings which participants of this research attribute to citizenship and their acting as political agents, the paper unpacks the relations between this "status passage" (Glaser and Strauss 1971) and the political integration of immigrants. The findings show a very complex picture in which multiple factors and interactions play an important role. Legally speaking, Italian citizenship is a pre-condition for immigrants to enjoy the right to vote in elections at all levels, which participants considered a significant indicator of their political integration. Therefore, the political integration of immigrants is heavily conditioned by naturalization, which gives access to political rights, voice and representation as regulated at the state level. However, when considering the role of age and social capital in processes of political integration, there is also reason to believe that the political mobilization and participation of the youngest and most well-educated participants is not as exclusively attached to such formal recognition as a political subject.   Full text available at: https://doi.org/10.22215/rera.v11i1.258

scholarly journals Need for security and system fairness on the political extremes

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 115
Author(s):  
Hulda Þórisdóttir ◽  
Eva Heiða Önnudóttir
Keyword(s):  
Context Effects ◽  
Political Trust ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
The Political ◽  
Far Right ◽  
The People ◽  
Sense Of Security ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Political Opinions

We advance and empirically test the idea that people on both the far right and far left will be more likely than political moderates to perceive the system as fair, as long as it serves their heightened needs for security. We argue that political extremists may be especially drawn to systems that offer certainty and security. As long as ideological extremists are not alienated from the political system in general, they will, therefore, be especially motivated to see the system as fair, in particular, if extremism is coupled with a heightened need for security. We test this notion using data from Iceland, a country with a wide left–right spread in terms of the political opinions of both parties and people and which was, at the time of the study, still reeling from an economic crisis that strongly affected political trust and threatened people’s sense of security. We analyzed nationally representative data from the European Social Survey in 2012 (N = 752). The results showed a significant three-way interaction between political extremism, the need for security, and political trust in predicting perceived system fairness. The people most likely to perceive the system as fair were political extremists, with relatively high political trust and need for security. The results are discussed in light of context effects and how people on the left and right might have higher needs for security with different threats in mind.

scholarly journals Re-Discovering the Importance of Citizenship Through Immigrants' Experiences: Naturalization and Political Integration in Padua, Italy

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eriselda Shkopi ◽  
Zana Vathi
Keyword(s):  
State Level ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Integration ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Integration Of Immigrants ◽  
Political Agents ◽  
Italian Context ◽  
The Right

This paper focuses on processes of political integration for immigrants in the Italian context, constituting as it does an understudied topic. It does so by looking at one specific community, Albanian immigrants, who have been typically heavily stigmatized. While Albanian immigration in Italy has been a focus of previous research, no consideration so far has been given to naturalization and its influence on other political processes at the level of immigrants’ daily lives. Through the meanings which participants of this research attribute to citizenship and their acting as political agents, the paper unpacks the relations between this "status passage" (Glaser and Strauss 1971) and the political integration of immigrants. The findings show a very complex picture in which multiple factors and interactions play an important role. Legally speaking, Italian citizenship is a pre-condition for immigrants to enjoy the right to vote in elections at all levels, which participants considered a significant indicator of their political integration. Therefore, the political integration of immigrants is heavily conditioned by naturalization, which gives access to political rights, voice and representation as regulated at the state level. However, when considering the role of age and social capital in processes of political integration, there is also reason to believe that the political mobilization and participation of the youngest and most well-educated participants is not as exclusively attached to such formal recognition as a political subject.

scholarly journals Immigrant concentration at the neighbourhood level and bloc voting: The case of Amsterdam

Urban Studies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 766-788
Author(s):  
Floris Vermeulen ◽  
Maria Kranendonk ◽  
Laure Michon
Keyword(s):  
Linear Correlation ◽  
Concentration Effect ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Political Behaviour ◽  
Immigrant Background ◽  
Immigrant Concentration ◽  
Neighbourhood Level ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Using Data

Bloc voting, whereby people vote for candidates of the same immigrant background as themselves, provides one possible avenue for immigrants to access political systems. A relevant but understudied element in the bloc voting process is the neighbourhood and, specifically, the effects of its demographic concentration. While we have observed how immigrant voters become socialised within the context of immigrant neighbourhoods, we do not yet understand how immigrant concentration at this level impacts immigrants’ political behaviour. Do such high levels relate more strongly to bloc voting than low levels? Using data from Amsterdam’s 2010 and 2014 local elections, this article compares voting patterns of the Dutch capital’s three largest immigrant groups: Turks, Moroccans and Surinamese. The study’s analyses determine whether changes within a neighbourhood relate to immigrant candidate votes. Our findings reveal that for some groups, the percentage of eligible co-immigrant voters in a neighbourhood shows a positive non-linear correlation with the percentage of votes for candidates of the same immigrant background. This illustrates that for these groups in these contexts a concentration effect is at play.

Immigration into Politics: Immigrant-origin Candidates and Their Success in the 2013 Bundestag Election

2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas M. Wüst
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Integration ◽  
Career Patterns ◽  
Immigrant Generation ◽  
Electoral Success ◽  
Integration Of Immigrants

This article is about immigrant-origin politicians running for a Bundestag mandate in the 2013 election. Patterns of candidacy, electoral success and failure of the respective candidates and parliamentarians are systematically analyzed. The main finding is that politicians of immigrant origin are serious contenders for seats in the Bundestag, and political parties seem to have quite some interest in their election. It is increasingly the second immigrant generation that is involved politically, and, as the career patterns indicate, it is likely that many of them are going to stay longer in politics. Consequently, a closer look at immigrant-origin candidates and parliamentarians is of merit for both the study of parliamentary representation and of the political integration of immigrants and their descendants.

Conclusions

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piero Ignazi
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Present Condition ◽  
The Political ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
Dead End ◽  
Democratic System

The Conclusion addresses the parties’ present condition in the European political systems. Indeed, at the dawn of the new century parties have become Leviathan with clay feet: powerful in the political arena thanks to control of state resources, but very weak in terms of legitimacy in the eyes of public opinion. Only by abandoning the citadelle in which they are entrenched, recasting societal linkages, relinquishing all their privileges, and dismissing their self-referential attitude might they recover the confidence of the electorate. Maintaining a state-centred status will only lead to a dead end, and this will also harm the democratic system itself. The collapse of parties’ legitimacy inevitably affects democratic institutions: the mounting populist and plebiscitary wave suggests how pervasive is the crisis and how dramatic the challenge.

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