Politicising immigration in times of crisis

Swen Hutter,Hanspeter Kriesi

doi:10.1080/1369183x.2020.1853902

Abstract

ABSTRACT The article examines the politicisation of immigration in Europe during the so-called migration crisis. Based on original media data, it traces politicisation during national election campaigns in 15 countries from the 2000s up to 2018. The study covers Northwestern (Austria, Britain, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Switzerland), Central-Eastern (Hungary, Poland, Latvia, and Romania), and Southern Europe (Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain). We proceed in three interrelated steps. First, we show that the migration crisis has accentuated long-term trends in the politicisation of immigration. The issue has been particularly salient and polarised in Northwestern Europe but also in the latest Italian, Hungarian, and Polish campaigns. Second, radical right parties are still the driving forces of politicisation. The results underscore that the radical right not only directly contributes to the politicisation of immigration but triggers other parties to emphasize the issue, too. Third, we observe a declining ‘marginal return’ of the migration crisis on the electoral support of the radical right, and we confirm previous studies by showing that an accommodating strategy by the centre-right contributes to the radical right’s success, provided the centre-right attributes increasing attention to immigration.

Highlights

As has been outlined in the introduction of the special issue (Hadj Abdou, Bale and Geddes 2021), the politicisation of migration did not begin with the migration crisis, but has a history that reaches back several decades
With regard to the long-term factors and the recent migration crisis, we suggest that it makes sense to reduce the complexity by emphasizing broad differences that exist with respect to the impact of the new structuring divide between three large European regions – Northwestern Europe (NWE), Southern Europe (SE), and Central- and Eastern Europe (CEE)
We have presented results on three interrelated questions about the impact of the migration crisis on long-term trends in the politicisation of immigration and the radical right’s capacity in fuelling and profiting from moments of heightened conflict in the electoral arena

Summary

Introduction

In line with previous results, we expect them above all to increase the salience of the issue and to accommodate, to a more limited extent, their position to the anti-immigration position of the radical right We expect such an effect especially for centre-right parties and during the migration crisis. Weanalyze the driving role of the radical right for the politicisation of the immigration issue as well as the expectations concerning the strategic choices of the mainstream parties from left and right based on data about electoral debates While such data focus on elections and do not allow for following the party discourse continuously, they have the advantage of mirroring the parties’ issue emphasis and positioning at a crucial moment of party competition. We focus on the conditions of the electoral success of the radical right, expecting a declining marginal return and an interaction effect between the centre-right’s shifts in issue emphasis and positioning

Design and methods

Conclusion

Findings

10. Source