Multiculturalism, political parties, and the conflicting pressures of ethnic minorities and far-right parties

Bibliographic Data

ID6314734
AuthorsDaniel Westlake (0000-0002-1812-2036, University of British Columbia, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume24
Issue4
Pages421-433
Publication date2018-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueParty Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1354-0688 • E-ISSN: 1460-3683
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1354068816678881
OpenAlexW2559654892
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited57

Multiculturalism is an increasingly salient election issue. The growing size of many countries’ ethnic minority populations pushes parties to support multiculturalism, whereas the emergence of far-right parties in many countries pressures them to oppose it. This article examines parties’ positions on multiculturalism in a comparative context. It looks at 19 countries including most of Western Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. It argues that the influence of ethnic minorities over parties depends on electoral systems, and the strategies mainstream parties adopt in response to the far-right. The article finds that increases in ethnic minorities’ electoral strength lead parties to increase their support of multiculturalism to a greater degree in single-member district electoral systems than in proportional ones. Further, parties co-opt the anti-multicultural positions of far-right parties, and right parties do so more than left parties

Context (archaeology · Ethnic group · Far right · Geography · Mainstream · Multiculturalism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Salient · Sociology · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Populism, Right-Wing Movements

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