Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T03:23:12.557Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Voting home or abroad? Comparing migrants' electoral participation in countries of origin and of residence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Sergiu Gherghina Open the ORCID record for Sergiu Gherghina [Opens in a new window]  and
Huan-Kai Tseng
Sergiu Gherghina*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
Huan-Kai Tseng
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
*
* Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The political participation of immigrants has received increased scholarly attention over recent decades. However, comparisons between the electoral behavior of immigrants in their countries of origin and of residence are still limited. This article addresses this gap in the literature and seeks to identify the determinants of Romanian immigrants' electoral participation in the local elections of four West European countries (Germany, France, Italy, and Spain) as compared to their turnout in their home country's legislative elections. Looking through the lenses of exposure theory, we hypothesize that contact with institutions, people, and values from the countries of residence are likely to have different effects in the two types of elections. We test the explanatory power of four main variables - time spent in the host country, social networks, degree of involvement in the local community, and the type of relationship with citizens of their host countries - to which we add a series of individual-level controls such as age, education, gender, and media exposure. To assess our claim, we employ binary logistic regression to analyze original web survey data collected in the summer of 2013. The result supports the empirical implications of exposure theory.

Keywords

immigrantsvotingcountry of origincountry of residenceexposureresilience
Type
Articles
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 44 , Issue 3 , May 2016 , pp. 456 - 472
Copyright
Copyright © 2016 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anghel, Remus. 2013. Romanians in Western Europe: Migration, Status Dilemmas, and Transnational Connections. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.Google Scholar
Barreto, Matt A., and Munoz, Jose A. 2003. “Reexamining the ‘Politics of In-Between': Political Participation among Mexican Immigrants in the United States.” Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 25 (4): 427-447. doi: 10.1177/0739986303258599.Google Scholar
Bilodeau, Antoine. 2009. “Residential Segregation and the Electoral Participation of Immigrants in Australia.” International Migration Review 43 (1): 134-159. doi:10.1111/j.0197-9183.2008.01150.x.Google Scholar
Brady, Henry, Verba, Sydney, and Schlozman, Kay. 1995. “Beyond SES: A Resource Model of Political Participation.” American Political Science Review 89 (2): 271-294. doi: 10.2307/2082425.Google Scholar
Bueker, Catherine Simpson. 2005. “Political Incorporation among Immigrants from Ten Areas of Origin: The Persistence of Source Country Effects.” International Migration Review 39 (1): 103-140. doi: 10.1111/j.1747-7379.2005.tb00257.x.Google Scholar
Careja, Romana, and Emmenegger, Patrick. 2012. “Making Democratic Citizens. The Effects of Migration Experience on Political Attitudes in Central and Eastern Europe.” Comparative Political Studies 45 (7): 875-902. doi: 10.1177/0010414011428591.Google Scholar
Conway, Margaret. 1991. Political Participation in the United States. Washington, DC: CQ Press.Google Scholar
Dalton, Russell J. 2008. Citizen Politics. Public Opinion and Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies. 5th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press.Google Scholar
De Rooij, Eline A. 2012. “Patterns of Immigrant Political Participation: Explaining Differences in Types of Political Participation Between Immigrants and the Majority Population in Western Europe.” European Sociological Review 28 (4): 455-481. doi:10.1093/esr/jcr010.Google Scholar
Drew, Dan, and Weaver, David. 1998. “Voter Learning in the 1996 Presidential Election: Did the Media Matter?” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 75 (2): 292–301.Google Scholar
Drew, Dan, and Weaver, David. 2006. “Voter Learning in the 2004 Presidential Election: Did the Media Matter?” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 83 (1): 25–42.Google Scholar
Druckman, James N. 2011. “The Emergence of the APSA Experimental Section.” The Experimental Political Scientist: Newsletter of the APSA Experimental Section 2 (2): 1.Google Scholar
Eckstein, Harry. 1988. “A Culturalist Theory of Political Change.” American Political Science Review 82 (3): 789-804. doi: 10.2307/1962491.Google Scholar
Favell, Adrian. 2008. “The New Face of East-West Migration in Europe.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 34 (5): 701–716.Google Scholar
Hirschman, Charles, Kasinitz, Philip, and De Wind, Josh, eds. 1999. The Handbook of International Migration. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Huckfeldt, Robert, and Sprague, John. 1995. Citizens, Politics and Social Communication. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald, and Catterberg, Gabriela. 2002. “Trends in Political Action: The Developmental Trend and the Post-honeymoon Decline.” International Journal of Comparative Sociology 43 (3-5): 300-316. doi: 10.1177/002071520204300305.Google Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald, and Norris, Pippa. 2003. Gender Equality and Cultural Change Around the World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Jones-Correa, Michael A. 1998. Between Two Nations: The Political Predicament of Latinos in New York City. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Koopmans, Ruud. 2004. “Migrant Mobilisation and Political Opportunities: Variation among German Cities and a Comparison with the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 30 (3): 449-470. doi: 10.1080/13691830410001682034.Google Scholar
Leighley, Jan. 1995. “Group Membership and the Mobilization of Political Participation.” Journal of Politics 58 (2): 447-463. doi: 10.2307/2960234.Google Scholar
McAllister, Ian, and Makkai, Toni. 1992. “Resource and Social Learning Theories of Political Participation: Ethnic Patterns in Australia.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 25 (2): 269-293. doi: 10.1017/S000842390000398X.Google Scholar
McLeod, Jack M., Scheufele, Dietram A., and Patricia, Moy. 1999. “Community, Communication, and Participation: The Role of Mass Media and Interpersonal Discussion in Local Political Participation.” Political Communication 16 (3): 315-336. doi: 10.1080/105846099198659.Google Scholar
Milbrath, Lester W., and Goel, M. L. 1977. Political Participation: How and Why Do People Get Involved in Politics? New York: University Press of America.Google Scholar
Nie, Norman H., Junn, Jane, and Stehlik-Barry, Kenneth. 1996. Education and Democratic Citizenship in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Peterson, Steven A. 1990. Political Behaviour: Patterns in Everyday Life. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Rosenstone, Steven J., and Mark Hansen, John. 1993. Mobilization, Participation, and Democracy in America. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Scheufele, Dietram A. 2002. “Examining Differential Gains from Mass Media and Their Implications for Participatory Behavior.” Communication Research 29 (1): 46-65. doi:10.1177/009365020202900103.Google Scholar
Verba, Sidney, Lehman Schlozman, Kay, and Brady, Henry. 1995. Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Tam Cho, Wendy K. 1999. “Naturalization, Socialization, Participation: Immigrants and (Non-)voting.” Journal of Politics 61 (4): 1140-1155. doi: 10.2307/2647557.Google Scholar
Togeby, Lise. 1999. “Immigrants at the Polls: An Analysis of Immigrant and Refugee Participation in Danish Local Elections.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 25 (4): 665-684. doi: 10.1080/1369183X.1999.9976709.Google Scholar
Togeby, Lise. 2004. “It Depends … How Organisational Participation Affects Political Participation and Social Trust among Second-Generation Immigrants in Denmark.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 30 (3): 509-528. doi: 10.1080/13691830410001682061.Google Scholar
Trandafoiu, Ruxandra. 2013. Diaspora Online. Identity Politics and Romanian Immigrants. New York: Berghahn Books.Google Scholar
Londen, Van, Marieke, , Phalet, Karen, and Hagendoorn, Louk. 2007. “Civic Engagement and Voter Participation among Turkish and Moroccan Minorities in Rotterdam.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 33 (8): 1201-1226. doi:10.1080/13691830701613991.Google Scholar
Verba, Sidney. 1978. Participation and Political Equality: A Seven Nation Comparison. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Verba, Sidney, and Norman, Nie. 1972. Participation in America: Political Democracy and Social Equality. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Voicu, Bogdan, and Comşa, Mircea. 2014. “Immigrants’ Participation in Voting: Exposure, Resilience, and Transferability.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 40 (10): 1572-1592. doi:10.1080/1369183X.2013.873712.Google Scholar
Wals, Sergio C. 2011. “Does What Happens in Los Mochis Stay in Los Mochis? Explaining Postmigration Political Behavior.” Political Research Quarterly 64 (3): 600–611.Google Scholar
White, Stephen, Nevitte, Neil, Blais, André, Gidengil, Elisabeth, and Fournier, Patrick. 2008. “The Political Resocialization of Immigrants: Resistance or Lifelong Learning?” Political Research Quarterly 61 (2): 268–281.Google Scholar