Immigration and political trust
On 21 September 2010 Policy Network held a brainstorming meeting to launch its new research initiative, ‘Immigration and political trust’, supported by the Barrow Cadbury Trust. The meeting brought together academics, experts and policymakers to discuss the relationship between immigration and political trust and to contribute ideas on how to take the project forward over the next 12 months.
A detailed report emanating from the brainstorming meeting can be accessed at the bottom of this page.
Policy Network’s new research initiative is exploring how immigration relates to trust in politics. It examines the high levels of concern about immigration and the problems this poses for politics and policymakers, including for progressives, in order to develop policy proposals. Understanding political trust is especially important at a time when we are witnessing a decline in trust in political institutions and in politicians as a class in most European countries. It is also important for political parties to understand how relative trust in different political figures or political parties is an important factor in electoral outcomes.
New paper: Cause for concern? The impact of immigration on political trust
A Policy Network paper by Lauren McLaren of the University of Nottingham provided the starting point for discussion of a topic which has until now received relatively little academic attention. The paper finds that concerns about immigration are an important factor in explaining distrust in politicians and political institutions. The paper by Lauren McLaren, associate professor of politics at Nottingham University, finds that if citizens’ perception of immigration is negative, trust in politics is lower.
The paper, which compares the situation in different European countries, also finds that:
• Political trust does not appear to be related to actual levels of immigration, but rather to how people perceive the effects of immigration.
• The popularity of far-right parties does not appear to be related to levels of political trust.
• In countries where policies are more conducive to the integration of immigrants, the impact of concerns about immigration is stronger than in countries where immigrants face greater barriers to finding work and becoming citizens.
These findings come as the CBI and other important stakeholders in the UK express concern about the effects of the coalition government’s interim cap on immigration. The paper suggests that governments are right to pay attention to public concerns about immigration. But it warns that reducing the actual numbers of immigrants will not affect the confidence citizens have in their political system. As Lauren McLaren states, “closing the gates … will not solve the problem”.
Policy Network’s Elena Jurado comments on Lauren McLaren’s paper:
“These are important findings which mainstream parties need to acknowledge and respond to. Lauren’s research suggests that concerns about immigration, if left unchecked, can have negative long-term consequences on the functioning of our political systems. However, the research also raises more questions than it answers. The challenge before us is to understand in which ways public concerns about immigration impact on political trust. Is cultural diversity weakening social cohesion, and consequently the willingness of individuals to identify with common political institutions? Or is political disaffection in relation to immigration a function of the way governments and the media have managed and framed immigration policy?”
Please contact Anita Hurrell at ahurrell@policy-network.net, if you have any questions or comments in relation to this research programme.