Explaining immigration preferences
BORIS DOI
Subtitle
an actor-centred approach to a Europeanised policy field
Abstract
For more than a decade, immigration has been a persistent source of political conflict in Europe, dividing public opinion, political parties, and EU member states alike. This dissertation contributes to a deeper understanding of how preferences in this contested policy field emerge and interact. To reduce the complexity inherent in Europe’s multi-level and multi-actor environment, I adopt an actor-centred approach focused on the mass public, political parties, and national administrations within the Schengen and Dublin framework. Empirically, the dissertation draws on high-quality data, including an original survey conducted in seven EU member states, a fine-grained dataset on party immigration positions, and register data on all asylum applications in Switzerland since 2008. These data sources allow for more nuanced measures of actors’ preferences than commonly used in existing research.
The four articles each shed light on different dimensions of immigration preferences while speaking to broader themes. The first two articles examine public opinion and show how citizens’ views are shaped by both identity and intergovernmental politics: whereas the first paper highlights how distinct forms of European identity generate specific patterns of othering that structure immigration preferences, the second demonstrates that the long-standing intergovernmental divides over the Dublin system are likewise reflected in citizens’ evaluations of EU immigration policy. The third article turns to political parties and shows that they do not respond to their electorates’ heterogeneous preferences on immigration but instead adjust their positions under pressure from radical right competitors. The final article shifts the focus to national administrations, revealing that implementation of the Dublin system is guided not only by legal obligations but also by efficiency considerations, which ultimately reinforce existing imbalances within the policy framework.
Beyond advancing debates in European politics and migration studies, the dissertation contributes to wider literatures on public opinion, party politics, public policy, and public administration. The findings of the four articles show how actors’ preferences emerge, are shaped by other actors, and interact with institutional constraints, offering a more fine-grained understanding of the drivers of contestation in EU migration governance and the structural tensions that continue to shape solidarity within the EU.
The four articles each shed light on different dimensions of immigration preferences while speaking to broader themes. The first two articles examine public opinion and show how citizens’ views are shaped by both identity and intergovernmental politics: whereas the first paper highlights how distinct forms of European identity generate specific patterns of othering that structure immigration preferences, the second demonstrates that the long-standing intergovernmental divides over the Dublin system are likewise reflected in citizens’ evaluations of EU immigration policy. The third article turns to political parties and shows that they do not respond to their electorates’ heterogeneous preferences on immigration but instead adjust their positions under pressure from radical right competitors. The final article shifts the focus to national administrations, revealing that implementation of the Dublin system is guided not only by legal obligations but also by efficiency considerations, which ultimately reinforce existing imbalances within the policy framework.
Beyond advancing debates in European politics and migration studies, the dissertation contributes to wider literatures on public opinion, party politics, public policy, and public administration. The findings of the four articles show how actors’ preferences emerge, are shaped by other actors, and interact with institutional constraints, offering a more fine-grained understanding of the drivers of contestation in EU migration governance and the structural tensions that continue to shape solidarity within the EU.
Year of graduation
2024
Theses Type
dissertation
Language(s)
en
Author(s)
Faculty/Graduate School
Institute
Access(Rights)
open.access
Primary OA Publication
true