Recent Immigration Politics in Italy: A Short Story

Abstract

The short history of recent Italian immigration politics spans four phases: (1) until 1986, an incoherent policy with little control over flows; (2) increased mobilisation of public opinion, followed by the extension of foreign workers’ rights and a flawed amnesty campaign; (3) renewed mobilisation of public opinion in 1989, and Italy's alignment with the Schengen group; (4) lower political salience since the events at Bari in 1991. The mobilisation of public opinion drives cycles of immigration policy‐making activity, but legislative procedures structure influence within policy networks and thus indirectly condition policy content. The weakness of xenophobia, the dismantling of the Ministry for Italians Abroad and Immigration, and preoccupation with the crisis of Italy's postwar system have made immigration an unimportant political issue since 1991.