When Inmigration is a New Issue: Evidence from Chile 2003 and 2017

Abstract

In countries where parties have not adopted strong policy positions on immigration–and where the immigrant population is not large–popular perceptions of immigrants might not reflect the ideological divides reported in the literature for countries where immigration is a politically salient issue. We assess the association of ideological identification with the perceptions of immigrants in Chile using two comparable national polls, one from 2003, before the recent immigration wave, and one from 2017, in the middle of an immigration wave, but before parties formally adopted policy positions on immigration. With OLS estimations, we find that, as expected, leftists had more positive views than the rest, but contrary to expectations, those on the right also had more positive views, especially in 2017. Views were more prominent in 2017 than in 2003, with those in the extreme left and extreme right displaying positive views.
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Author Biographies

Gonzalo Espinoza Bianchini

,
Universidad Diego Portales
Gonzalo Espinoza Bianchini es investigador asociado del Observatorio Político Electoral de la Universidad Diego Portales en Chile. Es cientista político y estudiante del magíster en siología de la Universidad Diego Portales. Su área de investigación es la identificación ideológica.  Ha publicado sobre confianza interpersonal en DADOS – Revista de Ciências Sociais, sobre consumo de medios en International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society, sobre participación política no convencional en la Revista de Estudios Políticos (Colombia) y sobre capital social en la Revista de Derechos y Ciencias Políticas de la Universidad Católica de Temuco. 

Patricio Daniel Navia

,
New York University / Universidad Diego Portales
Clinical Professor of Liberal Studies, Liberal Studies Program, New York University. Profesor titular de ciencia politica, Escuela de Ciencia Politica, Universidad Diego Portales

Renata Cirano

,
Universidad Diego Portales
Renata Cirano es cientista política de la Universidad Diego Portales. Es investigadora asociada del Observatorio Político Electoral de la Universidad Diego Portales y consultora en asuntos de política pública. 

Francisca Jara Nancuente

,
Universidad Diego Portales
Francisca Jara Nancuente es cientista política de la Universidad Diego Portales e investigadora asociada del Observatorio Político Electoral de la Universidad Diego Portales. Es además consultora sobre política sociales y responsabilidad social empresarial. 
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