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Right Extremist Votes and the Presence of Foreigners: An Analysis of the 1994 Elections in Amsterdam
Author(s) -
De Vos Sjoerd,
Deurloo Rinus
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.766
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1467-9663
pISSN - 0040-747X
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9663.00056
Subject(s) - islam , population , politics , political science , contrast (vision) , demographic economics , political economy , sociology , geography , economics , law , demography , archaeology , artificial intelligence , computer science
Over the past few years, parties on the extreme right of the political spectrum have drawn a surprisingly large number of votes in elections throughout Western Europe, and surprisingly often. What these parties have in common is their aversion to ‘foreigners’, by which they mean anyone who hails from another country. This paper considers whether the presence of foreigners in the immediate surroundings of people's homes is a factor in their decision to cast their vote for any of these parties. It is based on an analysis of data on two elections held in Amsterdam in 1994. The analysis reveals that the presence of Moroccans and Turks, two population groups that are associated with an Islamic lifestyle, in the immediate surroundings of the home actually does increase the support for parties on the extreme right. In contrast, the presence of people from Surinam or the Antilles does not have that effect, while the presence of foreigners from other countries does not have that effect at all.