Sunday, March 16, 2014
Senate (Omni Shoreham)
The article addresses competition over immigration in the Dutch and Flemish party systems. By looking at when, whether and how mainstream parties engage with immigration in each place, this article seeks to understand how parties compete on an issue under non-ownership conditions. Drawing on an analysis of party manifestos, it supports the concept of combined competence and positional competition, of parties emphasizing immigration when they have a distinct position, and shows how the presence of intra-party tensions are relevant for understanding how parties choose to emphasize (or avoid) immigration as part of their electoral strategy. On the other hand, there is less support for the premise that party size predicts emphasis on immigration. These results are discussed with respect to the wider implications for understanding party strategies in Western Europe, and for the (party) politics of immigration specifically.
