Making Democratic Citizens: The Effects of Migration Experience on Political Attitudes in Central and Eastern Europe
Abstract
This article examines the effects of migration experience on political attitudes in Central and Eastern European countries. The rationale for this quest is the hypothesis that contact with democratic contexts translates into democratic political attitudes, for which evidence is so far inconclusive. In this article, we are interested to see whether migrants returning from Western countries display different political attitudes than their fellow nonmigrant citizens. The analysis of survey data shows that migration experience diversifies the array of political attitudes: Although migrants are more likely to trust EU institutions and to try to convince friends in political discussions, they do not differ from nonmigrants in their attitudes toward domestic institutions. Based on earlier works on determinants of political attitudes, the authors argue that migration experience has a significant effect only when these attitudes are related to objects that are associated with improvements in the migrants’ material and cognitive status.
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Biographies
Romana Careja is postdoctoral research and teaching fellow at the Research Training Group SOCLIFE at the University of Cologne. Her main research areas are transformation reforms in Eastern European Countries and East–West migration. Her recent publications include “The Politics of Public Spending in Post-Communist Countries” in East European Politics and Societies (Patrick Emmenegger, 2009), “The Politics of Inclusion and Exclusion. Social Policy, Migration Politics and Welfare State Nationalism” in Welfare Citizenship and Welfare Nationalism in Europe (Patrick Emmenegger, 2009), and Policy Coherence and Economic Reforms in Central and Eastern Europe: The Great Transformation (2010).
Patrick Emmenegger is associate professor at the Department of Political Science and Public Management, University of Southern Denmark. He specializes in comparative welfare state research with a special focus on labor market policies, the relationship between immigration and the welfare state, the role of religion in the development of Western European welfare states, and macrocomparative research methods. His recent publications include “Why Not Flexicurity? The Role of State-Society Relationships and Social Trust in the Development of Labour Market Policies in Italy and Sweden” in West European Politics (Giuliano and Bonoli, 2010), “Catholicism, Job Security Regulations and Female Employment: A Micro-Level Analysis of Esping-Andersen’s Social Catholicism Thesis” in Social Policy & Administration (2010), “Specificity vs. Replaceability: The Relationship Between Skills and Preferences for Job Security Regulations” in Socio-Economic Review (2009), “Barriers to Entry: Insider/Outsider Politics and the Political Determinants of Job Security Regulations” in Journal of European Social Policy (2009), and “The Politics of Public Spending in Post-Communist Countries” in East European Politics and Societies (Romana Careja, 2009).
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Article first published online: December 15, 2011
Issue published: July 2012
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