Immigration Policy and Right-Wing Populism in Western Europe

Anna McKeever

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9783030417604
• eBook ISBN:
  9783030417611
• Topic: Politica e relazioni internazionali
• Subtopic: Politica europea

Immigration has become one of the central issues dominating the agenda of political parties, and has also played a crucial role in the rise of right-wing populism in Western Europe. This book explores the role of conservative parties in immigration policy change. The following questions are addressed: What explains the introduction of restrictive immigration policies across a number of European states? Why do conservative parties choose to toughen their immigration policy stances? How can we explain the variation in the factors that affect conservative parties' immigration policy-making logics? What mechanisms account for the dynamics of immigration policy change or policy deadlock? Based on interviews with political elites and policy makers in the UK, Switzerland and France, the book explains why governmental conservative parties in these countries revised their immigration policy stances and steered immigration policy in a more restrictive direction between 2002 and 2015.

© The Author(s) 2020

A. McKeeverImmigration Policy and Right-Wing Populism in Western Europehttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41761-1_1

Begin Abstract

1. Introduction

Anna McKeever¹

(1)

School of Education and Social Sciences, University of the West of Scotland, Glasgow, UK

Anna McKeever

End Abstract

What explains the introduction of restrictive immigration policies across a number of European states? Why do conservative parties choose to toughen their immigration policy stances? What explains the variation in the factors that affect conservative parties’ immigration policymaking logics? What mechanisms account for the dynamics of immigration policy change or policy deadlock? Using the cases of the UK, Switzerland and France, this book explains why governmental conservative parties in these countries changed their immigration policy stances and shaped immigration policy in a more restrictive direction between 2002 and 2015. It also sheds light on the mechanisms that explain both immigration policy change and integration policy deadlock.

Immigration has become one of the crucial issues in Western Europe (Green-Pedersen and Otjes 2019; Grande et al. 2019), dominating agenda of political parties and voters and remaining the biggest concern of the European voters (European Commission 2018). Britain’s exit (Brexit) from the European Union (EU), the acceptance of the Initiative Against Mass Migration in Switzerland, Marine Le Pen’s unprecedented success in the 2017 presidential elections are some of the examples that highlight the growing scepticism towards the EU and immigration in general and illustrate a growing demand for populist ideas. Conservative parties across Europe have not been immune to the rise of populism and Euroscepticism, which is largely centred around the issue of immigration. Right-wing governments or coalitions, which included mainstream conservative parties, have adopted restrictive immigration policies, creating a fertile ground for the growth of populism, which in the European context refers ‘to anti-immigration and xenophobia’ (Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser 2018: 2). In Europe, populism is generally characterised as right-wing (Betz 1994; Zaslove 2004), ethnic identity oriented (Mudde 2007) and exclusionist (Betz 2001). For right-wing populists, the enemy of the people is not just elites but also ‘others’, including immigrants, Muslims and regional minorities (Albertazzi and McDonnell 2015: 6), which are not considered as part of ‘the people’ (Rooduijn et al. 2014: 564). Europe and the world are witnessing the rise of radical right populism (Inglehart and Norris 2016), which signals the need to provide explanations about the origins and foundations of this change.

Populism and the rise of radical right in Western Europe pose challenges for mainstream parties, which ultimately influence the positions of mainstream parties on issues like immigration, contributing to the right-turn in European politics (Mudde 2016: 9). It has been argued that as a result of the rise of radical right, mainstream parties and politicians have resorted to populist rhetoric:

When explicitly prominent outsider gains prominence, parts of establishment will react by a combined strategy of exclusion and inclusion; while trying to exclude populist actor(s) from political power, they will include populist themes and rhetoric to try and fight off the challenge. (Mudde 2004: 563)

Not being part of the governments, radical right parties nevertheless have become significant players on political arena by politicising issues like immigration, economy and security (Mudde 2013; Van Spanje 2010; Abou-Chadi 2016). Growing public support for such parties has had an impact on the strategies that mainstream parties adopted to prevent the alienation of their electorate. Political discourse and the policies of established parties have been shifting further to the right, which demonstrates the ‘right turn’ in European politics (Alonso and Da Fonseca 2012). However, while evidence points to the fact that radical right parties have an influence on the positions of the conservative parties (Schain 2006; Mudde 2013; Alonso and Da Fonseca 2012), it is not the only explanation of why conservative parties adopt more restrictive immigration policy stances and other factors also need to be considered. Electoral threat from radical right parties does not solely explain the change in conservative parties’ immigration stances (Akkerman 2015; Alonso and Da Fonseca 2012) as ‘radical right populist parties should be seen as catalysts rather than initiators, who are neither a necessary nor sufficient condition for the introduction of restrictive immigration policies’ (Mudde 2013: 1). So, what explains why conservative parties adopt restrictive immigration stances, leading to tougher immigration policies in Western Europe?

As immigration continues to be an important issue on political agenda, so will the need to recognise the causes and mechanisms that account for the introduction of restrictive immigration policies. This book considers the impact of radical right on conservative parties’ policy stances but offers other explanations as to why conservative parties become more restrictive on immigration. It is timely as it helps to explain the general European shift to the right through one of the key lenses: immigration. While country-specific nuances exist, there would appear to be pan-European concerns around immigration. Among the challenges that immigration poses are economic and identity concerns as well as Europeanisation, support for which is diminishing among some EU member states and their electorates, while nation-state sovereignty in immigration matters is seen as increasingly important. Cultural and social questions have arisen as a response to the widening of the European community, linking immigration with anxiety about social security and welfare (Delanty 2008). Immigration has adopted a negative connotation in European discourse and has been linked to new social security issues. Originally it was radical right parties like Front National (FN) in France, United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) in the UK, Dansk Folkeparti in Denmark and others that have been spearheading welfare chauvinism, arguing for limiting immigrants’ access to social welfare benefits. Today, the popularisation of ideas linking EU, immigration, welfare and security as sources of uncertainty is not any more a distinctive feature of radical right parties but has become a key issue on the agenda of conservative parties. In order to better understand the growth of right-wing populism across Europe, this book examines the role of conservative parties in mainstreaming it.

The new millennium has brought a new set of challenges that has resulted in more restrictive immigration policies. The events of 9/11 in the USA, which brought a shift in perception of certain categories of migrants, had an impact on the perception of Muslims in the Western world and contributed to the rise of Islamophobia and backlash against multiculturalism (Castles and Miller 2009). Important changes have been happening on the European arena as well. The 2004 EU enlargement welcomed ten new countries, which substantially increased the population of the EU. The accession of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007 contributed to the already existing tensions in certain European countries like the UK, especially with regard to labour migration. Global financial crisis, which unfolded in 2007–2008 and brought recession across the world, had a negative impact on labour markets and highlighted economic insecurities, which manifested in decreasing economic growth and rising unemployment (Hemerijck 2013).

This book examines the period between 2002 and 2015, depending on the country case, based on the occurrence of critical junctures in each of the countries. In Switzerland, the analysis starts from 2003, when the Swiss People’s Party (SVP) became the larges...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Explaining Causes and Dynamics of Policy Change and Policy Deadlock
• 3. From Detoxification Strategy Back to ‘Nasty Party’: Explaining the Conservative’s Turn on Immigration Between 2005 and 2015
• 4. Immigration Policy and the SVP: Resisting the EU and Fighting Switzerland’s So-Called Islamisation
• 5. Immigration During Sarkozy’s Time in Office: Economic Orientation and Cultural Backlash
• 6. Explaining the Variation in Conservative Parties’ Responses to Immigration
• 7. Conclusion
• Back Matter