Multiculturalism and the Imagined Community: Diversity, Policy, and National Identity in Public Opinion By Matthew Patrick Wright A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in Charge: Professor Jack Citrin, Chair Professor Taeku Lee Professor J. Merrill Shanks Professor Irene Bloemraad Fall, 2010 Multiculturalism and the Imagined Community: Diversity, Policy, and National Identity in Public Opinion Copyright ! 2010 by Matthew Patrick Wright Abstract Multiculturalism and the Imagined Community: Diversity, Policy, and National Identity in Public Opinion by Matthew Wright Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science University of California, Berkeley Jack Citrin, Chair Developed democracies in Europe and elsewhere are experiencing an unprecedented influx of culturally diverse immigrants and asylum seekers into their national communities. For the study of political psychology, a critical issue is how the pattern of ethnic group relations affects process of identity formation and change and, derivatively, the pattern of public support for a range of public policies with implications for social inclusion and equality. While there has been extensive commentary on the issue of multiculturalism both in America and abroad, the specific question of how the perceived threat of heightened immigrant diversity on the normative content of national identity (that is, the question of “who are we”) has only recently begun to receive systematic attention in the scholarly literature. Multiculturalism has both a purely demographic and a political meaning. The politics of diversity also refers to specific policies governments enact in order to either encourage or discourage cultural pluralism. The specific policies at issue typically refer to the representation and recognition of minority groups and may encompass affirmative action, language policies, border control, access to welfare state programs, and citizenship laws. Debate has raged for years among political philosophers of multiculturalism over the desirability of such policies. Some suggest that government policies devoted to “cultural recognition” and minority group representation ease political tensions in these increasingly diverse communities and promote national loyalty. Others suggest the reverse: government attempts to promote cultural recognition through multiculturalism policy harden barriers among groups, foster prejudice and hostility to immigration, and erode the overall sense of national attachment in a country. This debate, too, has only now begun to receive rigorous empirical scrutiny. The present study examines three main questions: first, how can we think about what the social boundaries of the national community might be, and why do they matter? Are narrower, more bounded notions of the nation in-group related to mass preferences on ! "! immigration, immigrants, and cultural diversity more generally? More centrally, this study examines how immigrant diversity and policies of cultural recognition shape mainstream citizens’ conceptions of normative national identity. Is it indeed the case that ethnic diversity and political multiculturalism undermine social harmony, by provoking – via cultural threat – the desire among mainstream citizens to adhere to a more “ascriptive” and exclusionary definition of who truly belongs on their soil? Finally, I go to the heart of the philosophical debates on cultural recognition, by asking whether immigrants’ allegiance to the nation is in indeed undermined in “multicultural” nations. Are they less willing to participate in the political process? Do they have less faith in the political system and governing institutions? Are they less trusting and/or socially engaged? Merging aggregate level economic and demographic measures with cross-national public opinion data, I argue that mass publics do indeed seem to have reacted to increased levels of immigrant diversity by constraining their notion of who truly belongs to the national community along more “ethnic” lines. Furthermore, this backlash has been heightened in the countries that have more fully committed themselves to cultural recognition, versus those that have favored minority integration; this finding provides empirical support for many of the philosophical critiques of multiculturalism that have emerged vociferously in recent years. On the other hand, immigrants themselves appear to benefit from political multiculturalism, all else equal; they exhibit higher levels of satisfaction with politics and politicians in their adoptive nation, and perceive substantially less discrimination against them along ethnic, racial, linguistic, and religious lines. ! #! Table of Contents List of Tables and Figures ii Acknowledgements v Chapter 1 The Imagined Community Imperiled 1 Chapter 2 Measuring the Boundaries of the Nation in Mainstream 14 Public Opinion Tables and Figures 26 Chapter 3 Immigrant Diversity and Mainstream Response: Theory 36 and Measurement Chapter 4 The Empirical Relationship Between Normative National 49 Identity and Diversity Tables and Figures 58 Chapter 5 The Role of Policy Regimes, Theory and Measurement 70 Tables 84 Chapter 6 The Empirical Relationship Between National Identity 87 and Policy Regimes Tables and Figures 94 Chapter 7 Policy Regimes and Immigrant Public Opinion 105 Tables and Figures 114 Chapter 8 Conclusions 129 Works Cited 137 Appendices Appendix to Chapter 2 162 Appendix to Chapter 4 169 Appendix to Chapter 6 178 Appendix to Chapter 7 180 ! "! List of Tables and Figures Chapter 2 Tables 2.1 Country-Level Means on the Importance of Various Qualifications For Immigration 2.2 Dimensionality of Immigration Qualification Items by Country 2.3 Dimensionality of “True National” Items By Country 2.4 Relativized Importance of Ascribed and Achievable Characteristics For Immigrants 2.5 Raw and Standardized Scores For Each “True National” Item By Country, 2003 2.6 Aggregate Stability and Change in “True National” Measures By Country, 1995-2003 Figures 2.1(a)-(d) Ascriptive Nationalism Indices and Controlling Borders 2.2(a)-(d) Ascriptive Nationalism Indices and Immigrants’ Rights 2.3(a)-(d) Ascriptive Nationalism Indices and Cultural Pluralism 2.4(a) and (b) Ascriptive Nationalism Indices Prejudice and Discrimination Chapter 4 Tables 4.1 #$%"&"%'()*+,&,)!-.,%"/01.23!#44"5.(0"1$!6'()"7"/(0"1$2 4.2 Modelling Context Effects on Ascriptive Nationalism: Immigration Qualifications 4.3 #$%"&"%'()*+,&,)!-.,%"/01.23!89.',!:(0"1$();!#0,42!! 4.4 <1$0,=0'()*+,&,)!>,(2'.,2!($%!89.',;!>,4?,.2@"A!"$! 0@,!:(0"1$()!<144'$"0B 4.5 Contextual and Individual-Level Predictors of Ascriptive Nationalism, 2003 4.6 >')0"*),&,)!>1%,)!-.,%"/0"$5!0@,!C,)(0"&,!#4A1.0($/,!17! :(0"&"0B!71.!D,"$5!(!89.',!:(0"1$();E!FGGH!($%!IJJK 4.7 L55.,5(0,!<@($5,!"$!89.',!:(0"1$();!#0,42E!FGGH*IJJK! 4.8 Predicting Aggregate Mean Changes in the “True National” Items, 1995-2003 Figures 4.1 (a)–(c) Cultural Threat, Perceived Inflows, Positive Social Contact, and the Ascribed Immigration Qualification Index 4.2(a) and (b) Perceived Cultural and Economic Threat, Ascribed “True National” Index 4.3(a)-(d) Contextual Factors and Ascriptive Nationalism, “True National” Items ! ""! 4.4(a)-(d) M1.,"5$!D1.$!N.1O0@!&P!C,2"%'()2!17!L55.,5(0,*+,&,)! QR'(0"1$2! ! Chapter 5 Tables 5.1 Immigrant Multiculturalism Policy Scores By Country, 1980-2000 5.2 Multiculturalism Policy and Citizenship Categories 5.3 Country-Level Social Welfare Spending, Decommodification Indices, and GINI Coefficients Chapter 6 Tables 6.1 >')0"/')0'.()"24!($%!<"0"S,$2@"A!-1)"/B!L5("$20!! Immigration Qualification Items and Indices 6.2 Multiculturalism, Citizenship and Welfare Policy Against “Truly” Items and Indices, 2003 6.3 Multiculturalism, Citizenship Policy and the Ascribed “Truly” Index, 1995-2003 Figures 6.1 Ascribed Qualifications Index and Multiculturalism 6.2 Ascribed Qualifications Index and Citizenship Policy 6.3 L2/."?,%!#44"5.(0"1$!6'()"7"/(0"1$2E!<14?"$,%!-1)"/B!! <(0,51.",2! 6.4 L2/."?,%!#44"5.(0"1$!6'()"7"/(0"1$2!($%!T1/"()!! Expenditures 6.5 Ascribed “Truly” Index By Multiculturalism 6.6 Ascribed “Truly” Index By Citizenship 6.7 Ascribed “Truly” Index, Combined Policy Categories 6.8 Ascribed “Truly” Index and Social Expenditures 6.9 Country-Level Intercepts on Ascribed “Truly” Index and Social Expenditures 6.10 Mean Change in Ascribed “Truly” Index 1995-2003, By Combined Policy Categories Chapter 7 Tables 7.1 Individual-Level Predictors of Immigrants’ Social Capital and Perceived Discrimination 7.2 Individual-Level Predictors of Immigrants’ Political Interest, Participation, and Satisfaction Figures 7.1 Incorporation Regime and Immigrants’ Generalized Trust/Perceived Discrimination 7.2(a) and (b) Social Spending and Immigrants’ Generalized Trust/Perceived Discrimination 7.3(a) and (b) Generalized Trust, By Country and Immigrant Category ! """! 7.4 Trust in People of Other Ethnicity/Religion, By Immigrant Category 7.5 Incorporation Regime and Immigrants’ Political Interest/Participation 7.6 Social Spending and Immigrants’ Political Interest/Participation 7.7(a) and (b) Immigrants’ Political Interest 7.8 Immigrants’ Political Participation 7.9 Incorporation Regime and Immigrants’ Political Trust 7.10 Social Spending and Immigrants’ Political Trust 7.11 Immigrants’ Political Trust 7.12 Incorporation Regime and Immigrants’ Democratic Satisfaction 7.13(a)-(b) Social Spending and Immigrants’