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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.
List of contents
Chapter 1 Introduction.- Chapter 2 Explaining causes and dynamics of policy change and policy deadlock.- Chapter 3 From detoxification strategy back to 'nasty party': explaining the Conservative's turn on immigration between 2005 and 2015.- Chapter 4 Immigration policy and the SVP: resisting the EU and fighting Switzerland's so-called 'Islamisation'.- Chapter 5 Immigration during Sarkozy's time in office: economic orientation and cultural backlash.- Chapter 6 Explaining the variation in conservative parties' responses to immigration.- Chapter 7 Conclusion.
About the author
Anna McKeever is Lecturer in Social Sciences at the University of the West of Scotland, UK. Her research interests include party politics, immigration and populism.
