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Immigration as a Political Dilemma in Britain
Author(s) -
Messina Anthony M.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
policy studies journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.773
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1541-0072
pISSN - 0190-292X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1541-0072.1995.tb00542.x
Subject(s) - politics , immigration , dilemma , argument (complex analysis) , political science , perspective (graphical) , phenomenon , political economy , immigration policy , control (management) , development economics , sociology , law , economics , epistemology , philosophy , biochemistry , chemistry , management , artificial intelligence , computer science
Informed by evidence drawn from the British case, this article assesses three competing explanations for how and why political elites in Western Europe lost control of postwar immigration and immigrant policy: the liberal thesis, the political‐historical perspective, and the political institutional breakdown explanation. The British case casts doubt on the assumption that West European elites did lose control of policy, although, to the extent that perfect control was not exercised, the political‐historical argument best explains this phenomenon.