Access to Electronic Thesis Author: Joao Carvalho Thesis title: Bringing politics back in: the impact of extreme-right parties on immigration policy in the UK, France and Italy during the 2000s Qualification: PhD This electronic thesis is protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. No reproduction is permitted without consent of the author. It is also protected by the Creative Commons Licence allowing Attributions-Non-commercial-No derivatives. If this electronic thesis has been edited by the author it will be indicated as such on the title page and in the text. The University of Sheffield Bringing politics back in: the impact of extreme-right parties on immigration policy in the UK, France and Italy during the 2000s João Miguel Duarte de Carvalho A thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Department of Politics Faculty of Social Sciences Sheffield, February 2012 Abstract This comparative study examines the impact of extreme-right parties on immigration policy in the UK, France and Italy between 2001 and 2009. The thesis develops a synthesis of two different strands of work in political science: the extreme-right parties’ literature alongside immigration studies. Immigration studies often refer to extreme-right parties as a factor behind restrictive developments on immigration policy whilst ERP literature refers often to immigration but tell us very little about its complexity. Past comparative research throughout the 1990s suggested that members of the extreme-right party family exhibit similar significant levels of impact across different countries. This thesis compares whether the British National Party, the French Front National and the Italian Lega Nord had a significant impact on the three dimensions of immigration politics and policy: inter-party competition; public attitudes; and immigration policy development in the UK, France and Italy. The thesis shows substantial variations in the intensity and contents of extreme-right parties’ impact across the selected dimensions in each country and at cross-national level. 2 Acknowledgments In the process of writing the thesis I have become heavily indebted to all those who directly or indirectly provided support to I end this journey. I would like express my deep gratitude for all those who provided the slightest contribution for the thesis and who made my stay in Sheffield so much sweeter. I am deeply grateful to the expertise and support provided by Professor Andrew Geddes through the thesis, whose contribution was invaluable at all levels. I would also like to thanks the comments of Dr. Charles Lees. Sarah Cooke will always be remembered for the support provided since the first day of my PhD application. This thesis was developed with the support of a fours years scholarship provided by the Portuguese Fundação da Ciência e Tecnologia. Finally, I would like to mention Dr. Maria Ionnis Baganha as a huge source of inspiration and who is no longer among us. Special thanks for all my friends who helped me to survive to the PhD and have been into a similar struggle: Dr. Adrian Gallagher, Ali Onur Ozcelik, Dr. Alex Balch, Asa Cusack, Chris Kitchen, Darlington Ashamole, Dr. Daniel Wunderlich, Dr. David Moon, Defne Gunay, Gabriel Siles–Brügge, Florian Reiche, Hilal Gezmis, Jewellord Nem Singh, Joerg Wiegratz, Dr. Laura Mcleod, Katharine Dommett, Nuray Aridici, Romualdo dos Santos, Sam Wyatt, Shih–Yu Chou. I am also deeply appreciated to those friends who proofread the text: Dr. Dion Curry and Seamus Doherty. Many thanks to all those unnamed who lived and worked alongside me at the St. George’s Church, the Graduate Research Centre, and at the PhD suite at the Department of Politics. To Dora, with all my love, to my family, particularly my mother, grand–mother, and to all immigrants who lost their lives seeking a better life. 3 Contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................... 3 Contents .................................................................................................................................... 4 List of Tables ............................................................................................................................ 8 List of Figures ......................................................................................................................... 10 List of abbreviations .............................................................................................................. 13 Chapter 1 – Introduction ...................................................................................................... 16 1.1 – Research on the political impact of ERPs ................................................................... 19 1.2 – Combining ERPs literature with immigration studies ................................................ 23 1.3 – Plan of the thesis ......................................................................................................... 27 Chapter 2 – Methodology ...................................................................................................... 30 2.1 – Ontology ..................................................................................................................... 30 2.2 – Epistemology .............................................................................................................. 32 2.3 – Research questions ...................................................................................................... 33 2.4 – Understanding ERP impact on selected dimensions ................................................... 37 2.5 – Explanatory factors ..................................................................................................... 39 2.6 – Comparative research design ...................................................................................... 43 2.7 – Mixed research methodology ...................................................................................... 44 4 Chapter 3 – The search for consensus: the extreme–right party family .......................... 55 3.1 – Debate about the best label for rightist parties............................................................ 55 3.2 – Party families and ERPs.............................................................................................. 57 3.3 – Typology of ERPs ....................................................................................................... 62 3.4 – Conclusions ................................................................................................................. 66 Chapter 4 – Selection and contextualisation of case studies .............................................. 68 4.1 – Justification of case selection and choice for a most similar systems research design .............................................................................................................................................. 68 4.2 – Electoral systems ........................................................................................................ 72 4.3 – ERPs development until 2001 ..................................................................................... 77 4.4 – Immigration in the UK, France and Italy .................................................................... 99 4.5. – Conclusions .............................................................................................................. 115 Chapter 5 – The BNP impact on British immigration policy from 2001 to 2005........... 118 5.1 – 2001 general election - Labour’s second landslide ................................................... 119 5.2 – BNP development between 2001 and 2005 .............................................................. 132 5.3 – BNP impact on immigration policy under Blair’s second term ................................ 137 5.4 – Conclusions ............................................................................................................... 151 Chapter 6 – The BNP impact on British immigration policy between 2005 and 2009 .. 155 6.1 – The 2005 general election - Blair’s third victory ...................................................... 155 6.2 – The BNP development between 2005 and 2009 ....................................................... 168 6.3 – The BNP impact on immigration policy under Labour’s third term ........................ 174 6.4 – Conclusions ............................................................................................................... 182 5 Chapter 7 – The FN impact on French immigration policy from 2002 to 2007 ............. 185 7.1 – The 2002 Presidential elections: a political earthquake ............................................ 186 7.2 – The FN: from the 2002 presidential elections to 2007 ............................................. 196 7.3 – FN impact on immigration policy under Chirac’s presidential term ........................ 202 7.4 – Conclusions ............................................................................................................... 216 Chapter 8 – The FN impact on French immigration policy between 2007 and 2009 .... 219 8.1 – The 2007 presidential elections ................................................................................ 219 8.2 – FN development from 2007 and 2009 .....................................................................