Immigration and Perceptions of National Political Systems in Europe
Lauren McLaren
Abstract
This book analyses the impact of immigration on perceptions of national political systems in Europe and contends that public concern about immigration is undermining trust in national political institutions and elites, as well as satisfaction with the way democracy is working. The book further contends that immigration presents more substantial challenges to some national identity constructions and that while national identity in general can help to bolster support for national political systems, those who emphasize lengthy ties to the country are likely be less positive about their national p ... More
This book analyses the impact of immigration on perceptions of national political systems in Europe and contends that public concern about immigration is undermining trust in national political institutions and elites, as well as satisfaction with the way democracy is working. The book further contends that immigration presents more substantial challenges to some national identity constructions and that while national identity in general can help to bolster support for national political systems, those who emphasize lengthy ties to the country are likely be less positive about their national political systems, particularly when these allow for relatively easy immigrant incorporation. The book also includes an analysis of the impact of concern about immigration on the British political system, and shows that while concern about immigration appears to have been fairly high since the 1960s, it is only since 1997 that such concern has come to translate into negative perceptions of the British political system. The book’s analyses are based on cross-national surveys, including the European Social Survey, Eurobarometer, and International Social Survey Programme data, as well as British data, particularly British Election Study surveys. The findings are based on statistical models but they are presented and interpreted for more general readers.
Keywords:
immigration,
public opinion,
political trust,
satisfaction with democracy,
national identity
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2015 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780198739463 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: October 2015 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198739463.001.0001 |
