Power sharing at the local level: evidence on opting-in for non-citizen voting rights

Abstract

The enfranchisement of foreigners is likely one of the most controversial frontiers of institutional change in developed democracies, which are experiencing an increasing number of non-citizen residents. We study the conditions under which citizens are willing to share power with non-citizens. To this end, we exploit the setting of the Swiss canton of Grisons, where municipalities are free to decide on the introduction of non-citizen voting rights at the local level (a so called opting-in regime). Consistent with the power dilution hypothesis, we find that enfranchisement is less likely when the share of resident foreigners is large. Moreover, municipalities with a large language/cultural minority are less likely to formally involve foreigners. In contrast, municipality mergers seem to act as an institutional catalyst, promoting democratic reforms. A supplementary panel analysis on electoral support for an opting-in regime in the canton of Zurich also backs the power dilution hypothesis, showing that a larger share of foreigners reduces support for an extension of voting rights.

‘When do states give voting rights to non-citizens? The role of population, policy, and politics on the timing of enfranchisement reforms in liberal democracies’

“…We then move to discuss the role of immigration policy regimes and consider the role of political partisanship on non-citizen enfranchisement. Next, while the effect of partisanship on non-citizen enfranchisement has been widely studied, the findings from earlier studies remain mixed which calls for further research attention (Stutzer and Slotwinski 2019;Toral 2015;Goenaga 2019). Distinct from existing work, we argue and empirically test whether partisanship and policy regime effects are mitigated by the actual share of the foreign-born population in the country.…”

“…Existing literature on non-citizen enfranchisement proposes competing arguments and mixed evidence for several key factors of policymaking on the issue area of immigrant rights, namely the roles of immigrant residents and political partisanship (Stutzer and Slotwinski 2019;Jacobs 1998;Jacobs 1999;Toral 2015). Moreover, there is also surprisingly little systematic evidence on the relationship between immigration policy regimes and political rights for immigrants.…”

“…First, we contend that the demographic composition of destination countries constitutes a key factor in explaining the timing of enfranchisement. We hypothesise two competing ways in which having a more ethnically heterogenous population can either advance voting rights through a power resource logic (Seidle 2015) or obstruct through a power dilution mechanism (Stutzer and Slotwinski 2019). Second, we theorise and empirically assess ways in which permissive immigration policy regimes and political partisanship may advance or delay non-citizen enfranchisement.…”

Multilevel strategies of political inclusion: The contestation of voting rights for foreign residents by regional assemblies in Europe

“…The reason is that consulting the voters on migration-related matters almost always leads to a restrictive outcome (Arrighi 2017;Veri 2019). Furthermore, the presence of a large local immigrant population further reduces support for an extension of political rights to foreign residents (Stutzer and Slotwinski 2020). Indeed, the ten cantons that held a popular vote on this issue rejected it with majorities oscillating between 74% in Vaud and 88% in Solothurn.…”

External Voting Rights from a Citizen Perspective – Comparing Resident and Non‐resident Citizens' Attitudes towards External Voting

“…Less is known about what the voters themselves think about external voting rights. Previous empirical research has focused on determinants of support for emigrant voting rights, although mainly from a party and/or country‐level perspective (e.g., Collyer 2014; Østergaard‐Nielsen et al 2019; Stutzer & Slotwinski 2020), or policy issues related to electoral incentives and allowing emigrants to elect special emigrant representatives (Østergaard‐Nielsen & Ciornei 2019). With some research (e.g., Bauböck 2003; Spiro 2006) suggesting that non‐resident citizens' voting rights could be diluted if their interests are discretely represented in national legislatures.…”