Political Opportunities, Social Capital and the Political Inclusion of Immigrants in European Cities

Abstract

Discussions about how public policies can promote more effectively the active engagement and participation of immigrants and their children1 in the political and civic life of the countries where they live are at the core of current scholarly and public debates. In advanced democracies, there are recurrent disputes about the appropriateness and potential benefits or shortcomings of introducing legal reforms that would guarantee that large immigrant populations — and especially their native-born children — are not excluded from the political process and from political representation. As Jones-Correa (1998: 35 and 46ff.) notes, migrants’ political marginalization has several potential negative implications for democratic politics: it undermines the process of democratic representation and accountability, it undervalues the role of active participation in the polity for the construction of the political community, and it perpetuates the view of immigrants and their descendants as outsiders to that community. Furthermore, the negative consequences related to migrants’ political exclusion are likely to spill over to their social and economic integration, as the policy process will fail to address adequately their needs in these domains. Yet there are widely divergent views on what are the most effective ways to promote migrants’ political inclusion, and on when and under what conditions should first-generation immigrants be granted full political rights

When Does Sexuality-Based Discrimination Motivate Political Participation?

“…In a study of immigrant political participation in Europe (across a set of European cities), migrants' organizations, civil society groups, and consultative bodies provide higher levels of social capital that encourage participation among immigrants (bonding and group mentalities among immigrants) (Morales & Giugni, ). In this edited volume, Gonzalez‐Ferrer () compared members of immigrant communities who either naturalized or were from Europe and found that in the cities where immigrants were given a stable legal status (relaxed rules regarding residency permits), naturalized immigrants were more likely to vote in comparison to cities with tougher naturalization rules.…”

“…They found this correlation in Scandinavian cities (Oslo and Stockholm), and they conclude that they did not find clear evidence that discrimination spills over into participation. Morales and Giugni () examined political participation across Barcelona, Madrid, Milan, Lyon, Oslo, Stockholm, and Zurich. They did not find a correlation between those who report discrimination and participation.…”

5. The influence of interviewers’ ethnic background in a survey among Surinamese in the Netherlands

“…3 Until the Spanish National Immigrant Survey was conducted in 2007, there was no comprehensive survey information on the immigrant population in Spain (see chapter 3 in this volume). 4 The samples are described in greater detail in Morales and Giugni (2011). 5 However, see , Keeter et al (2000) and Keeter et al (2006) for illustrations of how substantially different response rates due to varying fieldwork strategies need not bias the distribution of responses on a number of attitudinal and behavioural indictors.…”

Tracing roots of group representation among MPs with immigrant backgrounds: A content analysis on parliamentary questions in the Netherlands

“…Scholarly research on the political representation of immigrant minorities has gained greater attention with the transition of former outsiders into full citizens (among others, see Bird et al., 2011; Morales and Giugni, 2011). Indeed, there are legitimate grounds for that to be the case.…”