Immigrant Participation in Decision‐Making Processes at the Local Level: A Comparison of Immigrants and Veterans in Israel

Abstract

The issue of new immigrants' participation in policymaking and planning processes at the local level has not been adequately addressed. On the basis of qualitative research, the article examines a variety of different characteristics of immigrant participation in policymaking and planning in Israel. In particular, the research investigates aspects of participation, such as level of influence and typical tactics, of immigrant leaders from the Commonwealth of Independent States (specifically, Russia, the Ukraine, and Belarus) and Ethiopia. In addition, a comparison with veteran leaders in the same city examines whether the characteristics of the immigrants' participation express (a) adjustment to the character of the existing participation in their new city, (b) reliance on the character of participation common in their countries of origin, or (c) participation focusing on the immigrants' position within the power structure of the city. The findings show that the third pattern is prevalent. The article suggests reasons for the emergence of immigrants' participation characteristics, the advantages and limitations of this kind of participation, and means for dealing with the limitations.

Impact of the Group of Co-migrants on Strategies of Acculturation: Towards an Expansion of the Berry Model

“…Third, the process of acculturation becomes more complex as the culture of the host country evolves and changes, both according to its own dynamics and in response to mass migration. For example, as a large and politically important part of Israeli society, the Russian Jewish immigrants have impacted the direction of the evolution of Israeli culture (Gutman, 1996; Boehm, 2007).…”