Thread by @docrussjackson

#THREAD

Really important research on attitudes to immigration, asking why politicians & policymakers do not prioritize pro-immigration reforms, even when public opinion on the issue is positive.

cambridge.org/core/journals/…

https://twitter.com/akoustov/status/1583480257491107841

This research examines one previously overlooked explanation related to the systematically greater importance of immigration as a political issue among those who oppose it, relative to those who support it.

The research finds that "compared to pro-immigration voters, anti-immigration voters feel stronger about the issue & are more likely to consider it as both personally & nationally important."

This finding holds across virtually all countries, years, & survey measures of immigration preferences.

Public attitudes toward immigration exhibit a substantial issue importance asymmetry that advantages anti-immigration causes when the issue is more contextually salient.

One implication is that "if immigration preferences & personal interests in the issue are rather stable, most political events that increase the contextual salience of the issue should be statistically more likely to engage those who oppose than those who support immigration...

—even when the former is a shrinking segment of the population... this helps explain why the contextual salience of immigration has been associated with a populist & anti-immigration vote".

This research helps us understand why immigration is so important to the populist Right.