National models, policy types, and the politics of immigration in liberal democracies

Abstract:

Immigration policy can be disaggregated into theoretically and empirically meaningful components which are associated with different issues and patterns of benefits and costs that elicit distinctive modes of politics. A four-part typology identifies concentrated distributive, diffuse distributive, redistributive, and regulatory policies, which predict client, majoritarian, interest group, and entrepreneurial modes of politics, respectively. The utility of the typology is illustrated with respect to policies concerning visas for permanent residence, non-immigrant visas for purposes other than work, temporary labour visas, and political asylum. The case studies generally indicate that immigration policy can be broken down into distinctive types that are associated with predicted modes of politics, but that these patterns are not always consistent across countries with different immigration experiences. Furthermore, the framing of policies is subject to change due to external events and political manipulation. The interaction between national models and policy types should be a central focus of comparative immigration research.