Politicization of the refugee crisis?: a content analysis of parliamentary debates in Italy, the UK, and the EU

Abstract

This paper draws on the literature on party competition and issue ownership to assess whether political membership on the right-left dimension explains party stances on migration. While some scholars argue that on this issue a clear distinction between left and right exists, some more recent quantitative and fine-grained analyses show a more nuanced picture. According to them, a clear difference in narratives exists only when the salience of the issue is high, under pressure of the electoral success of a far-right party or about specific policy issues. This paper further investigates this aspect in the context of the 2015 refugee crisis. It looks at the positions held by the main centre-left, centre-right, Radical Right, and Populist Parties in the Italian, British, and European Parliaments. The content analysis shows that centre-left parties frame the refugee crisis mainly as a humanitarian emergency and held pro-European Union (EU) positions, while centre-right parties differ substantially between Italy and the United Kingdom. Both radical right and Populist Parties exploit the political-opportunity offered by the refugee crisis to foster their anti-establishment claims. Moreover, Radical Right Populist Parties stress the need to secure external borders and restore national sovereignty, against further integration. At the EU level, left- and right-wing groups (Socialist and Democrats Party, European Conservatives and Reformists Party, and European People’s Party) are cohesive, while the populist group (European Freedom and Direct Democracy Party) is not. This paper adds on the academic debate on the refugee crisis, showing how the immigration issue can impact on domestic and European party politics, challenging party identities and alliances.

The impact of mass-level ideological orientations on immigration policy preferences over time

“…Additional countries, variables and data points are needed to draw conclusions that are more precise. Clearly, political parties are important informants about the actual and potential consequences of immigration, and so are the media (also Gianfreda, 2017;Urso, 2018). In this manner, these key actors make immigration issues salient at the mass level.…”

Populist parties and foreign policy: The case of Italy’s Five Star Movement

“…Such a broad conception of international society paves the way for a multilateral approach to tackle international issues. Finally, left-wing parties’ solidarity towards foreign people extends to those who seek to migrate to the country (Gianfreda, 2018).…”

Transnationalism and Welfare Chauvinism in Italy: Evidence from the 2018 Election Campaign

“…Compared to the Lega, the M5S maintained a vaguer and somewhat ambiguous position on immigration (Mosca & Tronconi 2019). Its political leaders did not openly speak against immigration flows, but they favoured an antiimmigration rhetoric by criticising the 'lucrative and corrupt system' of NGOs and associations sponsored by previous governments to help asylum seekers and refugees (Gianfreda 2018). The ambiguity of the M5S stance on immigration also emerged in regard to the citizenship income.…”