scholarly journals Who Endorses Amnesty? An Original Survey from Morocco's Casablanca Region Assessing Citizen Support for Regularizing Clandestine Migrants

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Buehler ◽  
Kyung Joon Han

AbstractTo deal with the growing migrant crisis in North Africa, several states have considered granting amnesty to foreign displaced persons (both economic migrants and potential refugees) who have entered their territories clandestinely. Morocco has taken the lead in this policy approach, launching two successful amnesty campaigns in 2014 and 2017 that regularized the status of approximately 40,000 displaced persons in total. While policymakers in many North African states increasingly see this policy as a viable solution, it is less understood how ordinary citizens view such regularization policies. Hence, this article inquires: under what conditions do ordinary native citizens support regularizing clandestine migrants and refugees? Further, what factors correlate with either higher or lower levels of public support for (or opposition to) regularization campaigns? Drawing on an original representative public opinion poll from Morocco's Casablanca-Settat region completed in 2017, this article finds that more than 59 percent of native citizens of Morocco support these regularization campaigns. Particularly, Moroccans who were wealthier, female, and ethnic minorities (black Moroccans) endorsed regularization more strongly. By contrast, Moroccans opposed regularization when they had concerns about whether displaced persons hurt the economy, undermine cultural traditions, and reduce stability.

Author(s):  
Udayon Misra

The concluding chapter takes up what it sees to be some of the major unresolved issues of Partition politics. While it tries to trace the roots of the violence centred around land in several areas of Assam, especially in the Bodo-inhabited region, it shows how issues such as the controversy over the cut-off year for immigrants to acquire citizenship are carry-overs from Partition days. Other major issues that are discussed include the status of Hindu refugees/displaced persons in the state, the National Register of Citizens, and the larger question of language and Assamese identity. It shows how with the new wave of immigrants being assimilated into the Assamese nationality, its transformation is underway and how this transformation itself throws up new challenges and equations.


1944 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joe Belden

Author(s):  
Lucy Barnes ◽  
Timothy Hicks

Abstract Public opinion on complex policy questions is shaped by the ways in which elites simplify the issues. Given the prevalence of metaphor and analogy as tools for cognitive problem solving, the deployment of analogies is often proposed as a tool for this kind of influence. For instance, a prominent explanation for the acceptance of austerity is that voters understand government deficits through an analogy to household borrowing. Indeed, there are theoretical reasons to think the household finance analogy represents a most likely case for the causal influence of analogical reasoning on policy preferences. This article examines this best-case scenario using original survey data from the United Kingdom. It reports observational and experimental analyses that find no evidence of causation running from the household analogy to preferences over the government budget. Rather, endorsement of the analogy is invoked ex post to justify support for fiscal consolidation.


1955 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan Bissey Field

2010 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 443-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew A. Baum ◽  
Tim Groeling

AbstractPrevailing theories hold that U.S. public support for a war depends primarily on its degree of success, U.S. casualties, or conflict goals. Yet, research into the framing of foreign policy shows that public perceptions concerning each of these factors are often endogenous and malleable by elites. In this article, we argue that both elite rhetoric and the situation on the ground in the conflict affect public opinion, but the qualities that make such information persuasive vary over time and with circumstances. Early in a conflict, elites (especially the president) have an informational advantage that renders public perceptions of “reality” very elastic. As events unfold and as the public gathers more information, this elasticity recedes, allowing alternative frames to challenge the administration's preferred frame. We predict that over time the marginal impact of elite rhetoric and reality will decrease, although a sustained change in events may eventually restore their influence. We test our argument through a content analysis of news coverage of the Iraq war from 2003 through 2007, an original survey of public attitudes regarding Iraq, and partially disaggregated data from more than 200 surveys of public opinion on the war.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1960 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-150
Author(s):  
Lytt I. Gardner

THIS is a progress report to the readers of Pediatrics on the status of Senator Lister Hill's "Health for Peace" bill (Senate Joint Resolution 41). This measure, which would have set up an international institute of medical research, passed the Senate May 20, 1959 with flying colors but finally was snagged in a House subcommittee through the summer of 1959. The legislation received resounding approval by the Senate, with a vote of 63 to 17. The bill proposed to organize an Institute of International Medical Research within the framework of the National Institutes of Health. A $50,000,000 annual appropriation was planned. Evidence of widespread public support for the measure was observed in the statements of authorities who spoke at the Senate hearings concerning the bill. It is of interest that no one appeared to testify against S.J. Res. 41 during the 6 days of hearings. At lease two persons participating in the hearings were members of the American Academy of Pediatrics: Dr. Martha M. Eliot, Head, Department of Maternal and Child Health, Harvard School of Public Health and Dr. Sidney Farber (Honorary Associate Member), Professor of Pathology, Harvard Medical School. Many witnesses pointed out the importance of providing support for the research activities and the training of promising scholars in other lands. On this subject, Dr. Farber had this to say: In many countries, such as Italy, the amount of research support available is so small that men of great skill and intellect are compelled to carry on only token research concerning problems which are selected because they do not require manpower, equipment, or modern research facilities.


Author(s):  
Amaney A. Jamal

This chapter focuses on Morocco, highlighting how citizens across the North African monarchy rationalize authoritarianism through the prism of strategic utility to U.S. (and EU) ties. Morocco includes one of the most progressive Islamic movements in the region, and citizens, while applauding the movement's moderation, remain wary of its foreign intentions. Enhancing ties with the United States and maintaining ties to Europe were often cited as key reasons why the status quo was preferable to increasing levels of democracy. It became apparent that although the Islamic Party for Justice and Development is considered moderate in terms of its internal Islamic agenda, many in the kingdom worried about the party's stance toward the United States.


Author(s):  
Douglas L. Kriner ◽  
Eric Schickler

This chapter proposes and empirically tests a general mechanism through which congressional investigative activity could affect presidential behavior and policy making more broadly: by influencing the president’s well of support among the American people. It proceeds in four parts. First, it describes two mechanisms through which committee investigations of executive misconduct are well positioned to shape levels of public support for the president. The empirical analysis then begins by asking a basic, but essential pre-cursor question: does the public generally support Congress employing its investigative powers to uncover and pursue allegations of abuse of power by the executive branch? Having answered this question in the affirmative, the analysis continues by merging the database of congressional investigative activity described in Chapter 2 with more than sixty years of public opinion data measuring support for the president. The chapter then presents the results of several original survey experiments that isolate the influence of congressional investigations on public opinion independent of potential confounding factors.


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