Economic Decline and Extreme‐Right Electoral Threat: How District‐Level Factors Shape the Legislative Debate on Immigration. Issue 4 (22nd October 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Tzelgov, Eitan; Olander, Petrus
• Is Part Of: Legislative studies quarterly. Volume 43:Issue 4(2018)
• Page Start: 649
• Page End: 679
• Publication Date: 2018-10-22
• Subjects: Legislative bodies -- Periodicals; Parlement; Procédure législative; Système parlementaire; Étude comparée (Descripteur de forme); Périodique électronique (Descripteur de forme); Ressource Internet (Descripteur de forme); 328
• DOI: 10.1111/lsq.12215
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0362-9805

Abstract

Abstract : This research examines the degree to which legislators respond to their districts by analyzing immigration‐related legislative speeches from the Swedish parliament (2005–16). Using a text‐scaling method, we find that the immigration discourse fluctuates between "socioeconomic responsibility" and "cultural difference" poles. We argue that socioeconomic declines and extreme‐right party success serve as an indication to MPs that there is demand for "cultural difference" rhetoric on immigration. Our statistical analyses support the argument and demonstrate that district‐level economic declines can lead to an increase in the salience of cultural framing of migrants, especially in districts with a higher share of foreign residents. We also find that district‐level extreme‐right electoral success has a significant influence on legislative immigration discourse. Overall, the results have implications for studies of legislative texts, dyadic representation, and the impact of the populist right on legislative politics in Europe.