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Policy issue salience and legislative output of populist governments: evidence from immigration policies.

Authors :
Böhmelt, Tobias
Ezrow, Lawrence
Source :
Journal of European Public Policy. Nov2024, Vol. 31 Issue 11, p3651-3675. 25p.
Publication Year :
2024

Abstract

Research on political representation suggests that legislative activity is influenced by governing parties' policy emphases in their election campaigns. We argue that populist governments are an exception as they may find it difficult to draft and implement laws on an issue even if it is salient to them. The anti-elitism, people-centrism, and Manichean-discourse nature of populist party platforms significantly alters their ability to legislate on their campaign issues. We test this claim using data on the saliency of governments' immigration policies in their election campaigns and subsequent legislation on immigration. The empirical analysis is based on 14 democratic states from 1998 to 2013. The results support the theory that populist governments will exhibit a relatively weak relationship between their issue emphases in election campaigns and the number of policies they enact on immigration. This research has important implications for our understanding of populism, political representation, and immigration policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
13501763
Volume :
31
Issue :
11
Database :
Academic Search Index
Journal :
Journal of European Public Policy
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
179638122
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2023.2255658