Public Opinion, Responsiveness and Constraint

Britain's Three Immigration Policy Regimes

Bibliographic Data

ID3668652
AuthorsRichard Ford (0000-0002-5665-6637, corresponding author), Robert Ford (0000-0002-9465-2282), Will Jennings (0000-0001-9007-8896, Dow Chemical (Japan), corresponding author), Will Somerville (International Organization for Migration, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume41
Issue9
Pages1391-1411
Publication date2015-07-29
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueNew Community (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-9586 • E-ISSN: 1469-9451
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1369183x.2015.1021585
OpenAlexW2080298995
LanguageEN
Citations received49
References cited28

We examine the link between public opinion and policy in the UK over the past 30 years. We show that public views about immigration are responsive to changes in immigration levels and differences between migrant groups, and that policy-makers are sensitive to these changes. Policy-makers look to respond to the public mood on migration, but face growing constraints in doing so. The interaction of public opinion, policy and constraint has produced three distinct policy regimes. In the first, from 1982 to 1997, policy-makers faced few constraints, immigration was tightly controlled and the public were unconcerned about the issue. In the second, from 1997 to 2004, migration policy was selectively liberalised in response to external and interest group pressures, producing increasing inflows and growing public demands for restriction. In the third, from 2004 to the time of writing, public demand for restriction is strong but policy-makers face significant constraints in responding. In all periods, policy-makers seek to focus restriction on the migrant streams most opposed by the public, but as they have lost discretionary power over the issue they have been forced to take action against more economically valuable and socially accepted migrant streams. The growing constraints on policy-makers have therefore sharpened the trade-off between the ‘responsive’ government of meeting public demands for immigrations restriction and the ‘responsible’ government goal of providing for the needs of a flexible, globally integrated economy

Economic growth · Economics · Immigration · Immigration policy · Political science · Politics · Public economics · Public opinion · Public policy · Law · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Social Policy and Reform Studies

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