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3 - Immigration Attitudes: An Overview

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  aN Invalid Date NaN

Rahsaan Maxwell
Affiliation:
New York University
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Summary

This chapter begins with a descriptive overview of immigration attitudes across Western Europe from 2002 to 2024. One key finding is that pro-immigration attitudes are more prevalent than anti-immigration attitudes. In addition, attitudes are becoming more pro-immigration over time in most countries. This may seem to contradict the conventional wisdom that the anti-immigration agenda controls the political agenda. However, I argue that the electoral strength of anti-immigration parties is not because public attitudes have shifted more anti-immigration. Instead, people who have always been anti-immigration but used to vote across the political spectrum have begun concentrating their votes on far-right parties, which increases their power in government. I also argue that demographic changes in Western Europe have increased the size of the population prone to be pro-immigration. In addition, pro-immigration attitudes have become more prominent as a backlash to the electoral rise of anti-immigration parties. Finally, I discuss concerns about social desirability bias.

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