The Politics of Immigrants in Times of ‘Crisis’

In Europe, there is a narrative that roams the continent far and wide: the crisis of multiculturalism. Contexts may vary, though all its iterations have common assumptions. Europeans have been too tolerant towards immigrants and they have exploited this. The narrative pushes for a political solution to alleged cultural conflicts: immigrants, as individuals, should assimilate into European nation-states. Most mainstream parties in Europe have adopted a version of this narrative. As a consequence of this voters with an immigrant background feel less represented by the mainstream parties and look for alternatives. Three options seem available for them, (1) keep supporting mainstream parties in an attempt to change the narrative, (2) to vote for small emerging immigrant parties or (3) to refrain from formal politics leading to political apathy. So far there is not much research in Europe on this. This study researches the development of mainstream party support among immigrant origin individuals in the Netherlands. Using exit polls of the local elections in Amsterdam in 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014 we can see to what extent immigrant origin voters supported mainstream parties, to what extent do they vote for ethnic candidates and/or ethnic parties. Using panel data of The Netherlands’ Life Course Survey (NELLS 2008-2014) we can explore whether the preference for mainstream parties has declined within immigrant-origin individuals over time. Furthermore, the data allows for the exploration of neighborhood effects. Do immigrant origin individuals show more preference for mainstream parties in neighborhoods where these parties enjoy high support?