Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-01T01:58:45.888Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Politics Feeds Back: The Minority/Majority Turnout Gap and Citizenship in Anti-Immigrant Times

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2020

Kristina Bakkær Simonsen Open the ORCID record for Kristina Bakkær Simonsen [Opens in a new window]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Voting is a democratic virtue and an important mechanism for citizens to let their voices be heard. However, citizens do not participate in politics at equal levels, with consequences for their political power. While turnout gaps between different socioeconomic groups are well researched, the biggest gap in many Western European countries today has been overlooked: that between the children of immigrants (minority youths) and the majority population. I argue that existing theories fall short in addressing this gap because they do not attend to the distinctly political forces that shape citizens’ relationships to politics. Building on the policy-feedback literature, and analyzing seventy-one in-depth interviews with minority and majority youths in Denmark, I show that because these groups are targeted very differently in policy and political discourse, they have substantially different conceptions of politics and their status as citizens. Many minority youths react to anti-immigrant political messages by dissociating from politics, but I warn against interpreting their quiescence as political apathy. Instead, dissociating from politics can be a strategy to reclaim power over their self-understanding and can be experienced as empowering. These findings challenge classic conceptualizations of political engagement and open discussion about how to understand political behavior in increasingly diverse societies.

Type
Special Section: The Politics of Immigration
Information
Perspectives on Politics , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , June 2021 , pp. 406 - 421
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Political Science Association

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.)

Footnotes

She would like to thank Rowa Raad Al-Suhaili and Razaleh Zeynalabedin for incredible assistance in recruiting interviewees and conducting interviews with minority youths. She also thanks her crowd of student assistants who transcribed hours and hours of interview recordings. For insightful discussions and feedback early in the project development, she would like to thank Lasse Schmidt Hansen. She has received helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article from participants at the Council for European Studies 2019 conference in Madrid; the Migration and Immigrant Incorporation Workshop, Harvard University; the Weatherhead Research Cluster on Comparative Inequality and Inclusion, Harvard University; and from the QUALIDEM group at UCLouvain. Finally, she thanks four anonymous reviewers and Editor Michael Bernhard for insightful and encouraging feedback. The Aarhus University Research Fund (AUFF) supported this research with a grant.

References

Bassel, Leah, and Emejulu, Akwugo. 2017. Minority Women and Austerity: Survival and Resistance in France and Britain. Bristol: Policy Press.Google Scholar
Bhatti, Yosef, Dahlgaard, Jens Olav, Hansen, Jonas Hedegaard, and Hansen, Kasper Møller. 2014. “Hvem stemte og hvem blev hjemme? Valgdeltagelsen ved kommunalvalget 19. november 2013. Beskrivende analyser af valgdeltagelsen baseret på registerdata.” Institut for Statskundskab, Københavns Universitet.Google Scholar
Bhatti, Yosef, Dahlgaard, Jens Olav, Hansen, Jonas Hedegaard, and Hansen, Kasper Møller. 2016. “Valgdeltagelsen og vælgerne til Folketingsvalget 2015.” CVAP Working Paper Series 1: 1–269.Google Scholar
Bhatti, Yosef, and Hansen, Kasper Møller. 2010. “Valgdeltagelsen ved kommunalvalget 17. november 2009: Beskrivende analyser af valgdeltagelsen baseret på registerdata.” Arbejdspapir 2010 Københavns Universitet, Institut for Statskundskab.Google Scholar
Bhatti, Yosef, and Hansen, Kasper Møller. 2016. “The Effect of Residential Concentration on Voter Turnout among Ethnic Minorities.” International Migration Review 50(4): 977–1004.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bhatti, Yosef, and Hansen, Kasper Møller. 2017. “Valgdeltagelsen blandt ikke-vestlige indvandrere og efterkommere.” Politica 49(3): 249–72.Google Scholar
Bilodeau, Antoine. 2017. “Mobilisation or Demobilisation? Perceived Discrimination and Political Engagement among Visible Minorities in Quebec.” Political Science 69(2): 122–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blais, André. 2000. To Vote or Not to Vote. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blais, André, and St-Vincent, Simon Labbé. 2011. “Personality Traits, Political Attitudes and the Propensity to Vote.” European Journal of Political Research 50(3): 395–417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruch, Sarah K., Ferree, Myra Marx, and Soss, Joe. 2010. “From Policy to Polity: Democracy, Paternalism, and the Incorporation of Disadvantaged Citizens.” American Sociological Review 75(2): 205–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, Andrea Louise. 2003. How Policies Make Citizens. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.10.1515/9781400841318CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, Andrea Louise 2012. “Policy Makes Mass Politics.” Annual Review of Political Science 15(1): 333–351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cho, Wendy K. Tam. 1999. “Naturalization, Socialization, Participation: Immigrants and (Non-)Voting.” Journal of Politics 61(4): 1140–55.Google Scholar
Cho, Wendy K. Tam, Gimpel, James G., and Dyck, Joshua J.. 2006. “Residential Concentration, Political Socialization, and Voter Turnout.” Journal of Politics 68(1): 156–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deterding, Nicole M., and Waters, Mary C.. 2018. “Flexible Coding of In-depth Interviews: A Twenty-First-Century Approach.” Sociological Methods & Research. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0049124118799377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elklit, Jørgen, Møller, Birgit, Svensson, Palle, and Togeby, Lise. 2004. Hvem stemmer - og hvem stemmer ikke? En analyse af valgdeltagelsen i København og Århus ved kommunalbestyrelsesvalgene i 1997. Aarhus: Aarhus Universitet.Google Scholar
Fallesen, Helene Wind. 2017. “Undersøgelse af uddannelseskløften: Haler børn med indvandrerbaggrund ind på de etnisk danske børn?” Politica 49(3): 292–311.Google Scholar
Fraga, Bernard L. 2018. The Turnout Gap. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Franklin, Mark. N. 2004. Voter Turnout and the Dynamics of Electoral Competition in Established Democracies since 1945. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodman, Sara Wallace. 2014. Immigration and Membership Politics in Western Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hassani, Ahmad. 2019. “Residential Segregation and Public Housing.” PhD dissertation, Department of Economics, Aarhus University.Google Scholar
Herzog-Punzenberger, Barbare, Fibbi, Rosita, Very-Larrucea, Contanza, DeSipio, Louis, and Mollenkopf, John. 2012. “Citizenship and Participation.” In The Changing Face of World Cities: Young Adult Children of Immigrants in Europe and the United States, ed. Crul, Maurice and Mollenkopf, John, 183–205. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Highton, Benjamin, and Wolfinger, Raymond E.. 2001. “The First Seven Years of the Political Life Cycle.” American Journal of Political Science 45(1): 202–09.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ingram, Helen. 2007. “Poverty, Policy, and the Social Construction of Target Groups.” In Remaking America: Democracy and Public Policy in an Age of Inequality, ed. Soss, Joe, Hacker, Jacob S., and Mettler, Suzanne, 245–253. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Integrationsministeriet. 2017. “Medborgerskab 2017. Baggrundstabeller fra Medborgerskabsundersøgelsen.” Notatserie. [Is this a newspaper, or something else?]Google Scholar
Jensen, Kristian Kriegbaum. 2016. Scandinavian Immigrant Integration Policies: Varieties of the Civic Turn. Aarhus: Politicas ph.d.-serie. [Is this entry a dissertation?]Google Scholar
Jensen, Kristian Kriegbaum, Fernández, Christian, and Brochmann, Grete. 2017. “Nationhood and Scandinavian naturalization politics: varieties of the civic turn.” Citizenship Studies 21(5): 606–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jensen, Toels Lund, Andersen, Marie Lund, and Pihl, Mie Dalskov. 2019. “Indvandrere og efterkommere bliver i højere grad mønsterbrydere.” Arbejderbevægelsens Erhvervsråd, 1-7. [Can you provide some sort of link for this entry/]Google Scholar
Kasinitz, Philip, Mollenkopf, John H., Waters, Mary C., and Holdaway, Jennifer. 2008. Inheriting the City: The Children of Immigrants Come of Age. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Lamont, Michèle. 2018. “Adressing Recognition Gaps: Destigmatization and the Reduction of Inequality.” American Sociological Review 83(3): 419–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lamont, Michèle, and Swidler, Ann. 2014. ”Methodological Pluralism and the Possibilities and Limits of Interviewing.” Qualitative Sociology 37(2): 153–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liversage, Anika, and Christensen, Christiane Præstgaard. 2017. Etniske minoritetsunge i Danmark: En undersøgelse af årgang 1995. Copenhagen: SFI—,Det Nationale Forskningscenter for Velfærd.Google Scholar
Lopez-Bunyasi, Tehama and Nuño-Pérez, Stephen. 2020. “Latino Voters Aren’t Apathetic, Sanders’ Nevada Win Shows. Stop Blaming Them for Low Turnout.” NBC News. Retrieved February 25, 2020. (https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/latino-voters-aren-t-apathetic-sanders-nevada-win-shows-stop-ncna1142541).Google Scholar
Maxwell, Rahsaan. 2010. “Evaluating Migrant Integration: Political Attitudes Across Generations in Europe1.” International Migration Review 44(1): 25–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mettler, Suzanne, and Soss, Joe. 2004. “The Consequences of Public Policy for Democratic Citizenship: Bridging Policy Studies and Mass Politics.” Perspectives on Politics 2(1): 55–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oskooii, Kassra A.R. 2016. “How Discrimination Impacts Sociopolitical Behavior: A Multidimensional Perspective.” Political Psychology 37(5): 613–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oskooii, Kassra A.R. 2018. “Perceived Discrimination and Political Behavior.” British Journal of Political Science 50(3): 867–92.10.1017/S0007123418000133CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pantoja, Adrian D., Ramirez, Ricardo, and Segura, Gary M.. 2001. “Citizens by Choice, Voters by Necessity: Patterns in Political Mobilization by Naturalized Latinos.” Political Research Quarterly 54(4): 729–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pérez, Efrén O. 2015. “Ricochet: How Elite Discourse Politicizes Racial and Ethnic Identities.” Political Behavior 37(1): 155–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pierson, Paul. 1993. “When Effect Becomes Cause: Policy Feedback and Political Change.” World Politics 45(4): 596–628.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quintelier, Ellen. 2009. “The Political Participation of Immigrant Youth in Belgium.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 35(6): 919–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramakrishnan, S. Karthick, and Espenshade, Thomas J.. 2001. “Immigrant Incorporation and Political Participation in the United States.” International Migration Review 35(3): 870–909.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sabiers, Sune Enevoldsen, and Harboe, Mikkel. 2014. De sociale klasser i Danmark 2012. Copenhagen: Arbejderbevægelsens Erhvervsråd.Google Scholar
Schildkraut, Deborah J. 2005. “The Rise and Fall of Political Engagement among Latinos: The Role of Identity and Perceptions of Discrimination.” Political Behavior 27(3): 285–312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, Anne, and Ingram, Helen. 1993. “Social Construction of Target Populations: Implications for Politics and Policy.” American Political Science Review 87(2): 334–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sheikh, Jakob. 2010. “63 procent af indvandrerne er sofavælgere.” Politiken. 1. section, p. 1. (23. juni 2010).Google Scholar
Simonsen, Kristina Bakkær. 2018. “What It Means to (Not) Belong: A Case Study of How Boundary Perceptions Affect Second-Generation Immigrants’ Attachments to the Nation.” Sociological Forum 33(1): 118–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simonsen, Kristina Bakkær 2019. “The Democratic Consequences of Anti-Immigrant Political Rhetoric: A Mixed Methods Study of Immigrants’ Political Belonging.” Political Behavior. (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-019-09549-6).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simonsen, Kristina Bakkær. 2020. “Immigration and Immigrant Integration Policy: Public Opinoin or Party Politics?” In Oxford Handbook of Danish Politics, ed. Christiansen, Peter Munk, Elklit, Jørgen, and Nedergaard, Peter. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Soss, Joe. 1999. “Lessons of Welfare: Policy Design, Political Learning, and Political Action.” American Political Science Review 93(2): 363–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soss, Joe. 2005. “Making Clients and Citizens: Welfare Policy as a Source of Status, Belief, and Action.” In Deserving and Entitled: Social Constructions and Public Policy, ed. Schneider, Anne L. and Ingram, Helen M.. New York: SUNY Press.Google Scholar
Denmark, Statistics. 2019. FOLK1-2. Statistikbanken.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TV2Fyn. 2017. “Forsker: De unge er mere demokratiske end nogensinde.” Retrieved September 2, 2019 (https://www.tv2fyn.dk/artikel/forsker-de-unge-er-mere-demokratiske-end-nogensinde).Google Scholar
van Ingelgom, Virginie, and Dupuy, Claire. 2020. “Qualidem: A Qualitative (re-)Appraisal of How Policies Shape Democratic Linkages in Western Democracies.” Retrieved February 2, 2020. (https://qualidem-erc.eu/).Google Scholar
Verba, Sidney, Schlozman, Kay Lehman, and Brady, Henry E.. 1995. Voice and Equality . Civic Voluntarism in American Politics. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Wattenberg, Martin P. 2012. Is Voting for Young People? New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Wedeen, Lisa. 1999. Ambiguities of Domination: Politics, Rhetoric, and Symbols in Contemporary Syria. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Zaller, John R. 1992. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. Cambridge Studies in Public Opinion and Political Psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Simonsen supplementary material

Appendices S1-S3
Download Simonsen supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 51.9 KB