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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MIGRADEMO (Migration and Democratic Diffusion: Comparing the Impact of Migration on Democratic Participation and Processes in Countries of Origin)

Teaser

Summary

Processes of international migration and democratic development are important academic and policy concerns. The presence of citizens of one country residing in another combined with new opportunities for transnational political engagement generates a series of research questions: Do emigrants influence democratic processes at home through their remittance of money and ideas? Do return migrants bring back new or different understandings about democratic rule? Does the emigrant vote from afar align with or contest the direction of the domestic vote? To what extent and under which conditions is the input of emigrants and return migrants contested among non-migrants? And how do these processes intersect with ongoing social and political transformations in the countries of origin?

These research questions and objectives are timely and relevant for broader debates on the political impact of migration. The MIGRADEMO research shifts the attention from the predominant focus on what happens when migrants arrive in countries of settlement to the impact on countries of origin. Comparing the content, scope and processes of democratic diffusion will contribute to our knowledge of the conditions under which migration can influence democratic practices. Both the empirical and theoretical contributions are relevant to researchers, policy makers and activists concerned with the broader implications of international migration and processes of democratization in migrant countries of origin.

The MIGRADEMO project is an ambitious long-term comparative research strategy to analyse and theorize the scope and dynamics of processes of democratic diffusion through migration. The research strategy of the project engages with both qualitative and quantitative research methods to analyse migration-led diffusion across three levels of democratic participation and processes: 1) The electoral and non-electoral political engagement and attitudes of individual citizens. 2) The proliferation, agendas and activities of civil society associations and social movements. 3) The democratic outlook and activities of members of the national and local political elite with a migration experience. In the fieldwork based part of the project we will explore these dynamics at both the local and national level in the cases of Romania, Turkey and Morocco.

Work performed

During the first 18 months, the project has been launched and we have focused on three tasks relevant to the contextualization and preparation of the intensive research in the countries of origin. First, we started the recruitment process by hiring two research assistants and, by the end of this reporting period, a further two postdocs and one PhD student who will be conducting fieldwork across the levels of democratic practices in the countries of origin. Second, the main bulk of the work during this period has been dedicated to the collection of and analysis of background data to strengthen the focus, methodology and risk management across the cases. In order to identify 2-3 relevant regions in each country for comparative in-depth analysis, we have collected, mapped out and analyzed data on subnational patterns of stocks of migrants abroad, return migration and remittances. We have first and foremost tried to collect this data from official sources. However, we have also undertaken an extensive collection and analysis of data from different surveys from national and international projects. The result will be the mapping of subnational patterns of emigrant links across the cases, which will be accompanied by a series of socio-economic and political indicators. Third, we have collected data and conducted statistical analysis on migrant influence on democratic processes in the country of origin. Importantly, the dataset has information on which party emigrants support from each of their countries of residence in transnational elections. We have presented preliminary results of the analysis of emigrant voting patterns and are currently extending the dataset for further analysis and the submission of papers for publication during the second period of the project. In a next step, the MIGRADEMO team is preparing for fieldwork to collect both qualitative and quantitative data on the micro-foundations of democratic diffusion through international migration.

Final results

The MIGRADEMO project takes a nuanced and critical perspective on the impact of migration on democratic processes in countries of origin.

In our work to date we have further engaged with the existing literature on the migration and democracy. Our extensive collection of data for the contextualization and preparation of the ensuing fieldwork has included the setting up of an original dataset on patterns of emigrant partisan support. The preliminary analysis has resulted in findings which are highly relevant for our understanding of patterns of democratic diffusion through external voting rights. We explore to what extent partisan preferences among emigrants in homeland elections differ from the homeland majority and the extent to which the difference between the emigrant and domestic vote relates to the political and economic context in the country of residence and origin.

The next steps of the MIGRADEMO project will focus on the in-depth research of processes and mechanisms of democratic diffusion across the three main research levels in the selected countries of origin. This includes attention to how democratic diffusion intersects with ongoing social and political developments in countries of origin as well a more nuanced conceptualization of which ideas circulate among migrants, returnees and non-migrants. The field research will generate new comprehensive datasets based on quantitative surveys and qualitative research. The former is essential for a systematic evaluation of the influence of migration on the levels and scope of individual democratic participation. The latter is crucial for a more nuanced and less binary understanding of which political ideas circulate and how they are negotiated among migrants, returnees and non-migrants. The combination of the different methodologies and approaches will create synergies between the more systematic evaluation of democratic diffusion across different local and national contexts and the more interpretative analysis of how this diffusion is negotiated. This research strategy will aid us in contributing to the theoretical understanding of the micro-foundations of democratic diffusion and the conditions under which migration can influence democratic processes.