“What do Europeans think about immigration” by Mathew Goodwin, for the Guardian:
Immigration arouses passion and debate like no other issue. Across Europe, human rights groups, flamboyant populists and tabloid media jostle over every new bit of data or opinion poll. The issue doesn’t look set to fall off the political landscape either. With elections fast approaching in France, the US and Germany, candidates on both the left and right are thinking hard about how to connect their campaigns with public anxieties over immigration…
In fact, across the five European states majorities of citizens consider immigration to be more of a problem than opportunity, and view immigrants as a burden on social services. This suggests that despite significant efforts by western governments to make the case for rising diversity, large numbers of voters remain unconvinced…
First, despite their frustrations with politicians, the attitudes of citizens toward immigration have remained broadly stable. While there is some evidence that anti-immigrant sentiment is hardening in the UK, the fact that it has not become more entrenched across Europe is good news, especially given two events: the onset of a global crisis that has sharpened economic insecurities and the prospect of further migration from North Africa following the Arab spring. Second, most citizens continue to overestimate the actual numbers of immigrants. For example, while only 11% of the British population is foreign born, citizens typically estimated the figure to be 32%. Rather than hold our hands up in exasperation, this presents an opportunity to explore better ways of communicating statistics to citizens more clearly…
