Diffusion of Diaspora Enfranchisement Norms

Abstract

States have increasingly granted voting rights to their citizens overseas. Traditional accounts of franchise extension suggest that governments’ motivations are either political (new voters are expected to support the incumbent government) or, in the case of citizens abroad, materialist (a fortified link to migrants encourages remittance flows). Although these factors doubtless matter, they overlook the tendency for liberal norms to diffuse through the international system, as competition with and learning from neighbors motivate the adoption of relevant policies and institutions. We use large- N cross-national hazard models to examine whether a similar pattern holds for diaspora enfranchisement and find that neighbors’ recent enactment of overseas voting nearly doubles the chance that a country will enfranchise its own diaspora. This suggests a role for international norms in determining national voting policies.

European ruling parties’ electoral strategies and overseas enfranchisement policies

“…Few of the other reasons the literature has suggested as motivating ruling parties to enfranchise those abroad appear as important in the Turkish case. For example, consider the important forces of remittances (Bauböck ), the need for overseas support in attaining foreign policy goals (Itzigsohn ; Demmers ) or the diffusion of democratic norms (Turcu & Urbatsch ).…”

Double standards? Attitudes towards immigrant and emigrant dual citizenship in the Netherlands

“…Sejersen 2008; Rhodes and Harutyunyan 2010). Key concerns here are typically that citizenship reflects a "genuine link" between an individual and the state; in other words, what remains the meaning of citizenship if people can leave our country, naturalize elsewhere and still maintain their entitlement, including voting rights, vis-à-vis the home country (Turcu and Urbatsch 2015)? For this reason, we expect that public anxiety about how nations can survive in a globalizing world translates not just into sceptical attitudes towards immigrant dual citizenship, but also towards emigrant dual citizenship.…”

Migrant Political Participation and Voting Behavior in Romania

“…Findings show that granting voting rights to Diaspora accelerates the diffusion of liberal principles to neighboring countries (Turcu and Urbatsch 2015). In Mexico, migrants remit democracy through external lobbying, voting from abroad and, upon return, by influencing others to be involved in politics (Perez-Armedaniz and Crow 2010).…”