Actors and venues in immigration control: Closing the gap between political demands and policy outcomes

Abstract

This account reviews the state of the literature on migration since the West European Politics special issue on migration was published in 1994. Particular attention is dedicated to the theme of immigration control and the critical question of policy gaps between immigration policy goals and outcomes. Regarding policy gaps, we identify three dimensions of this thesis that are addressed in some form by the contributors to the volume. These include: the disjuncture between public opinion and policy elites at the decision-making and implementation stages; the relationship between principals (states) and agents; and the dynamic between international and domestic arenas of policy-making. Offering a comparative analytical framework to empirically map the variations that exist across countries and policy stages and levels, this essay disaggregates the various components and actors involved in migration policy-making. It suggests that in order to test the gap thesis, a more nuanced empirical analysis of an expanded migration policy field composed of multiple actors and venues is warranted.

Europe at the frontline: analysing street-level motivations for the use of European Union migration law

“…First, migration law is conducted at a multitude of levels, including the international, the European, the national, the regional and the local (Lahav and Guiraudon 2006). As a relatively young field of EU harmonization, it is highly dynamic and national implementers are constantly confronted with new multilevel legal frameworks and realities (Zaun 2016).…”

Policies of Exclusion and Practices of Inclusion: How Municipal Governments Negotiate Asylum Policies in the Netherlands

“…This is a result of the Europeanization of immigration policies, growing international mobility and increasingly porous borders (LAHAV and GUIRAUDON, 2006;DOOMERNIK and JANDL, 2008). As in other European states, the focus on immigration control policies has shifted towards 'internal border control', including efforts to regulate the access of migrants to the labour market and welfare facilities and limiting the access of 'illegal' immigrants to Dutch society and its scarce resources (PLUYMEN, 2008).…”

Swedish Employers and Trade Unions, Varieties of Capitalism and Labour Migration Policies

“…In the migration literature, shifts in the degree of restrictiveness or openness of a state's labour migration policy have often been explained by references to changes in the national unemployment rates (Meyers 2004), and the degree to which affected parties mobilise and engage in interest group politics (Freeman 1995(Freeman , 2002(Freeman , 2006. Institutions have also been assigned a significant role, structuring the access that domestic groups have to migration policymakers and to relevant actors in legislatures, bureaucracies and labour market boards (Geddes 2003;Hollifield 1992;Lahav & Guiraudon 2006). Nevertheless, as also earlier stressed by Gregg Bucken-Knapp (2009), little attention has been paid to the question of whether and how functional complements among institutions may themselves contribute to the preferences of immigration policymakers.…”