Sunday, March 16, 2014
Senate (Omni Shoreham)
Immigration is one of the key issues of contestation in contemporary European politics. The populist radical right has more or less successfully mobilised around it, some parts of the media are similarly obsessed with it, and many voters feel just as strongly. Yet the extent to which immigration plays a part in electoral competition in individual states varies considerably, especially when it comes to the use made of the issue by parties generally considered mainstream rather than extreme. Based on a Special Issue submission, this mini-symposium addresses some of the explanations for this variation and why the immigration ‘issue’ is rarely a top election priority even though the political mainstream has continuously been prompted to make it one. Particular attention is paid to the ideological strains that may arise once immigration is factored in and how this appears to be a common factor across the cases covered.
