Liberal Ideals and Political Feasibility: Guest-Worker Programs as Second-Best Policies

Abstract

From the perspective of the economic interests of natives, guest-worker programs may be an optimal response to concerns regarding the fiscal impact of unskilled alien workers. Through such programs, natives enjoy the benefits of these workers in the labor market but do not bear the fiscal burden of providing the full set of public benefits that these workers would receive if they had ready access to permanent residence and, ultimately, citizenship. From the perspective of liberal principles of justice, however, the ideal would be access to citizenship, and guest-worker programs are only second-best policies. As long as natives are unwilling to bear the fiscal burdens that more liberal policies would entail, however, access to permanent residence will remain limited. Given these constraints of political feasibility, a liberalized guest-worker policy would represent a worthwhile improvement over the status quo, whether from the perspective of natives, aliens, or cosmopolitan liberalism.