Economic decline and extreme-right electoral threat: How district-level factors shape the legislative debate on immigration

Tzelgov, Eitan and Olander, Petrus (2018) Economic decline and extreme-right electoral threat: How district-level factors shape the legislative debate on immigration. Legislative Studies Quarterly, 43 (4). pp. 649-679. ISSN 1939-9162

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Abstract

This research examines the degree to which legislators respond to their districts by analyzing immigration-related legislative speeches from the Swedish parliament (2005-2016). Using a text-scaling method, we find that the immigration discourse fluctuates between `socio-economic responsibility' and `cultural difference' poles. We argue that socio-economic declines and extreme-right party success serve as an indication to MPs that there is demand for `cultural difference' rhetoric on immigration. Our statistical analyses support the argument and demonstrate that district-level economic declines can lead to an increase in the salience of cultural framing of migrants, especially in districts with a higher share of foreign residents. We also find that district-level extreme-right electoral success has a significant influence on legislative immigration discourse. Overall, the results have implications for studies of legislative texts, dyadic representation, and the impact of the populist right on legislative politics in Europe.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sdg 10 - reduced inequalities ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/reduced_inequalities
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies (former - to 2024)
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Political, Social and International Studies
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	16 Aug 2018 10:31
Last Modified:	01 Nov 2024 00:43
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/68071
DOI:	10.1111/lsq.12215

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