A foot in both countries: the effect of origin-country enfranchisement on migrants’ political interest and partisanship

Abstract

ABSTRACT How does emigrant enfranchisement affect immigrants’ political interest and partisanship? The ballot access granted by the origin country has both a symbolic and informational value for individuals. It returns political dignity to emigrants and transforms them from passive subjects to political actors, targeted by political campaigns and get-out-the-vote efforts. For the majority of the enfranchised, this empowerment spills over onto their attitude not only as emigrants toward the origin country but also as immigrants toward the country of residence. However, those international migrants who perceive strong rejection from the local environment are pulled away from residence-country politics, as the stark comparison between rights granted extraterritorially and political isolation around them becomes even starker. By combining existing cross-national surveys with data regarding electoral regulations, and an original survey of Latin American immigrants in the United States, this paper offers a unique insight into the political attitudes of individuals who are caught between origin and residence countries.