Leiden University Student Repository

Nijs, Pieter de (2023)

Shaping Votes and Shifting Tides: Unraveling the Influence of Government Economic Performance on Voter Preferences in Migration Policies

Bachelor thesis | Security Studies (BSc)

The shaping of voter preferences on migration policies are contingent on a wide variety of factors, most notably economic concerns. This thesis aims to develop a comprehensive analysis which builds on the general assessments of the performance of government, thereby replacing the need to include complex behavioral models and economic perspective theory with a comprehensive singular government actor. In addition, through the utilization of experimental methods, this study focuses on testing whether government performance has the claimed causal effect on voter disposition towards immigration policies. Using survey data gathered with the use of non-random convenience sampling and a custom survey, this thesis finds through quantitative analysis that individual voters prioritize their stance on migration policies over economic considerations when evaluating governments and their proposed migration (de-) liberalization. Meaning that despite perceiving a decline in economic performance,...Show moreThe shaping of voter preferences on migration policies are contingent on a wide variety of factors, most notably economic concerns. This thesis aims to develop a comprehensive analysis which builds on the general assessments of the performance of government, thereby replacing the need to include complex behavioral models and economic perspective theory with a comprehensive singular government actor. In addition, through the utilization of experimental methods, this study focuses on testing whether government performance has the claimed causal effect on voter disposition towards immigration policies. Using survey data gathered with the use of non-random convenience sampling and a custom survey, this thesis finds through quantitative analysis that individual voters prioritize their stance on migration policies over economic considerations when evaluating governments and their proposed migration (de-) liberalization. Meaning that despite perceiving a decline in economic performance, respondents maintained positive dispositions towards governments which undertook efforts to promote migration liberalization. Moreover, voters seem to demonstrate greater support for governments that exhibit commitments to liberalized migration policies in conjunction with an increased performance on economic matters. The study's findings challenge conventional wisdom that economic concerns are the primary driver of voter attitudes towards migration policies.Show less

migration

security

quantitative analysis

economic performance

governance

Author

Nijs, Pieter de

Faculty

Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs

Supervisors

Mazepus, H.

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en