1. Public Opinion towards Immigration in the European Union: Ignorant or Informed?
- Author
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Lahav, Gallya
- Subjects
- *
EMIGRATION & immigration , *IMMIGRATION law , *ELITE (Social sciences) , *POLICY sciences , *SOCIAL institutions , *INTERNATIONAL cooperation - Abstract
The literature on immigration has been divided with regard to the constraints, particularly of public opinion, on EU policy cooperation. Analysts have suggested that there is a disjuncture between public opinion and policy developments, and that liberal immigration policies have emerged because negative public opinion is not factored into elite decision-making or institutional developments (Freeman, 1995). Students of globalization have gone further and suggested that based on neo-liberal theories of 20th century norms, international regimes or cooperation would be inevitable (Hollifield, 1992). These accounts fail to explain why cooperation has been fairly limited up to now. More importantly, these liberal paradigms do not consider that there are more similarities between European elites and publics than previously expected (Lahav, 2002). Bringing in norms to the immigration equation, this paper addresses the role of mass attitudes, and attempts to unravel some of the paradoxes that underlie their downplay in the literature. Based on public opinion data derived from Eurobarometer surveys, the paper explores attitudes towards immigration in 15 EU countries. In gauging the basis on which publics form their preferences, the paper assesses the role of both personal and general political conditions as they relate to immigration attitudes. The conclusions attempt to say something about the prospects for immigration cooperation in the 'new world order'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2002