The Politics of Migration in Italy: Perspectives on local debates and party competition

Description

Migration represents one of the key issues in both Italian and European politics, and it has triggered EU-wide debates and negotiations, alongside alarmist and often sensationalist news reporting on the activities of government, party and social movement actors. The Politics of Migration in Italy explores what happens when previously undiscussed issues become central to political agendas and are publicly debated in the mass media. Examining how political actors engage with the issue of migration in electoral campaigning, this book highlights how complex policy issues are addressed selectively by political entrepreneurs and how the responses of political actors are influenced by strategic incentives and ongoing events. This book studies the dynamics of the politicization of the immigration issue across three local contexts in Italy – Prato, Milan and Rome – which differ systematically with respect to crucial economic, cultural and security dimensions of immigration. Offering an innovative exploration of party competition and migration in Italy, as well as providing the conceptual and analytical tools to understand how these dynamics play out beyond the Italian case, this book is essential reading for students, scholars and policymakers working in the areas of migration studies, agenda-setting and European politics more generally. Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 6 Copyright......Page 7 Dedication......Page 8 Contents......Page 10 List of figures......Page 13 List of tables......Page 14 Acknowledgements......Page 16 1 Introduction......Page 18 Competing on migration at the local level......Page 19 Research design and methodology......Page 21 The structure of the book......Page 26 Notes......Page 27 References......Page 28 Part 1 Framework and context......Page 32 Introduction......Page 34 The immigration issue: culture, economy, security......Page 36 Agenda setting, framing and dimensional competition......Page 44 Main hypotheses and expectations......Page 49 Conclusive remarks......Page 58 Notes......Page 60 References......Page 62 Migration to Italy: an overview......Page 71 Italian migration law and policy......Page 78 Milan, Prato and Rome......Page 83 References......Page 91 Part 2 Empirical analysis......Page 96 Introduction......Page 98 Issue salience......Page 100 Issue dimensionality......Page 102 Opposition and support to migration......Page 103 Conclusive remarks......Page 110 Notes......Page 111 References......Page 112 Introduction......Page 114 Local electoral actors and migration......Page 115 Issue salience and dimensionality......Page 121 Opposition and support to migration......Page 128 Conclusive remarks......Page 137 Notes......Page 139 References......Page 140 Introduction......Page 143 Migration frames and strategic choice......Page 144 Framing opposition and support to migration......Page 152 Conclusive remarks......Page 158 Notes......Page 160 References......Page 161 Introduction......Page 163 The mass media in electoral campaigns: ideal and tactical agendas......Page 164 Ideal and tactical agendas: similarity and difference......Page 167 Issue dimensionality across agendas......Page 172 Conclusive remarks......Page 176 References......Page 177 Part 3 Conclusion......Page 180 Introduction......Page 182 The dimensionality of policy issues......Page 184 Local migration debates......Page 185 Campaign strategies: issue emphasis and framing......Page 188 Advantaged and disadvantaged actors......Page 189 Future research directions......Page 193 References......Page 195 Appendices......Page 198 References......Page 221 Index......Page 224