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The Impact of Populist Radical Right Parties on National Immigration and Integration Policies in Europe an Analysis of Finland, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands

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The Impact of Populist Radical Right Parties on National Immigration and Integration Policies in Europe an Analysis of Finland, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands The impact of populist radical right parties on national immigration and integration policies in Europe An analysis of Finland, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands Author: Aniek van Beijsterveldt (461462ab) August 9, 2018 Supervisor: Prof. dr. M. Haverland MSc International Public Management and Policy Second reader: Dr. A.T. Zhelyazkova Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences Word count: 23,751 0 Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) The impact of populist radical right parties on national immigration and integration policies in Europe An analysis of Finland, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands Master thesis submitted to: Department of Public Administration, Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of International Public Management and Policy (IMP) By Aniek van Beijsterveldt (461462ab) Supervisor and first reader: Prof. dr. M. Haverland Second reader: Dr. A.T. Zhelyazkova Word count: 23,751 Abstract Populist radical right parties have emerged as an electoral force in Europe over the last three decennia. This has raised concerns among citizens, politicians, journalists and academia. However, scholars disagree whether or not populist radical right parties are able to influence policies. This thesis therefore examines the direct influence of populist radical right parties on immigration and integration policies by comparing the output of 17 cabinets of varying composition in Finland, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands between 2009 and 2016. A policy index has been developed to measure legislative changes with regard to citizenship and denizenship, asylum, illegal residence, family reunion and integration. The index showed that centre-right cabinets supported by populist radical right parties scored on average highest on the NIIP index, which means they succeeded best in producing restrictive immigration and integration legislation. The high score implied that populist radical right parties possibly had an impact on these introduced immigration and integration laws. However, the case by case analysis demonstrated that the direct influence of the populist radical right on these policies was only limited. The role of the populist radical right parties in the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Finland in pushing immigration and integration policies between 2009 and 2016 further in a restrictive direction was only marginal. 3 Acknowledgements This is it. The thesis process has come to an end, as the last words have been written down and the lay-out has got its final touch. I always heard that thesis writing can be hard, as it is the largest individual research project in your studies. Honestly, the process has been quite challenging indeed. However, as with anything in life, everything proved to be okay in the end. I am proud that I carried through and happy that I (finally) made it. This would never have been possible without a number of people, whom I wish to thank very much. Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Dr. Haverland. His guidance, patience and advice throughout the research and writing process were very much appreciated and let me believe that the end would come in sight at some point. Secondly, I wish to extend my sincere thanks to my second reader Dr. Zhelyazkova for her constructive feedback and helpful comments which I hope have enhanced the quality of this master thesis. Besides my supervisors, I wish to thank my friends and family for their unconditioned help and (mental) support. My sincere gratitude goes to my parents, who were not only kind enough to endure my complaints, but also let me temporarily live with them again during the final part of the thesis process. I would like to thank them for their unfailing love and support throughout this past year, and always. Aniek van Beijsterveldt Eindhoven, August 2018 4 Table of contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. 4 Table of contents ..................................................................................................................................... 5 List of tables and figures.......................................................................................................................... 8 List of political parties ............................................................................................................................. 9 Chapter 1: Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 10 1.1 Problem statement ................................................................................................................ 10 1.2 Research focus ....................................................................................................................... 12 1.3 Relevance .............................................................................................................................. 13 1.3.1 Academic relevance ........................................................................................................... 13 1.3.2 Societal relevance .............................................................................................................. 14 1.4 Research outline .................................................................................................................... 15 Chapter 2: Literature review ................................................................................................................. 16 2.1 Previous work ........................................................................................................................ 16 2.2 Literature gap ........................................................................................................................ 17 Chapter 3: Theoretical framework ........................................................................................................ 18 3.1 Populist radical right parties.................................................................................................. 18 3.1.1 Nativism ............................................................................................................................. 19 3.1.2 Authoritarianism................................................................................................................ 19 3.1.3 Anti-establishment ............................................................................................................ 20 3.1.4 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 21 3.2 Populist radical right parties and their effect on public policy ............................................. 21 3.2.1 Direct impact ..................................................................................................................... 22 3.2.2 Indirect impact .................................................................................................................. 22 5 3.2.3 Conditions for policy adoption .......................................................................................... 23 3.2.4 Organizational capacities .................................................................................................. 24 3.2.5 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 25 3.3. Immigration and integration policy ....................................................................................... 25 3.4 Conceptualization .................................................................................................................. 26 Chapter 4: Research design and methods ............................................................................................. 28 4.1 Research strategy .................................................................................................................. 28 4.2 Research design and case selection ...................................................................................... 28 4.2.1 Most similar systems design .............................................................................................. 28 4.2.2 Cases .................................................................................................................................. 29 4.2.3 Alternative explanations and control variables ................................................................. 32 4.3 Measuring the impact of the populist radical right ............................................................... 34 4.3.1 Nationalist Immigration and Integration Policy index ....................................................... 34 4.3.2 Case by case analysis ......................................................................................................... 37 4.3.3 Data collection ................................................................................................................... 37 4.4 Validity and reliability ............................................................................................................ 38 4.4.1 Validity ..............................................................................................................................
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