Is Immigration Detrimental for Social Trust in the European Union? A Three-Level Model of Cultural Heterogeneity and Citizenship Regime as Social Capital Predictors

Yıl 2010, Cilt: 3 Sayı: 1, 67 - 96, 30.05.2016

Giampiero Lupo

Öz

This paper deals with the effects of citizenship regimes on the relationship between immigration and social capital, in the European Union. The study questions previous researches that reported a negative effect of immigration on social capital without taking into account contextual factors, like citizenship regimes, that may affect the interconnections between the two variables. The implementation of a Three-level Model, analyzing Eurobarometer and Eurostat datasets and crossing individual, national and citizenship regime’s levels of analysis, permits to report two notable results: first, immigration is not always detrimental for social trust; second, more integrative citizenship regimes alleviate the negative effects of immigration on social trust. These findings suggest that creating a legislative environment that facilitates the inclusion of different ethnic groups into the society in order to avoid the worst consequences of ethnic heterogeneity, like isolation, clashes and a decline in social trust should be of great importance to policy-makers.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Citizenship research , immigration , social capital , interpersonal trust , European Union.

Kaynakça

• Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interaction. Newbury Park: Sage Publications.
• Alesina, A., & La Ferrara, E. (2000). Participation in heterogeneous communities. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115(3), 847-904.
• Almond, G. A., & Verba, S. (1970). The civic culture: Political attitudes and democracy in five nations. Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Press.
• Almagisti, M. (2006). Qualità della Democrazia: Capitale sociale, partiti e culture politiche in Italia. Roma: Carocci.
• Bok, D. (1997). The trouble with government. Harvard: Harvard University Press.
• Boix, C., & Posner, D. (1998). Social capital: Explaining its origins and effects on government’s performance. British Journal of Political Science, 28(4), 686-693.
• Bourdieu, P. (1980). Le capital social: Notes provisoires. Actes de la Recherche in Sciences Sociales, 31(3), 2-3.
• Bourdieu, P. (1985). The forms of capital. In J. G. Richardson (ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241-258). New York: Green-wood Press.
• Brehm, J., & Rahn, W. (1997). Individual-level evidence for the causes and consequences of social capital. American Journal of Political Science, 41(3), 990-1023.
• Cartocci, R. (2007). Mappe del tesoro. Atlante del capitale sociale in Italia. Bologna: Mulino.
• Castles, S. (1995). How nation-states respond to immigration and ethnic diversity. New Community, 21(3), 293- 308.
• Coleman, J. S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94(Supplement), 95-120.
• Coleman, J. S. (1990). Foundations of social theory. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
• Corbetta, P., Gasperoni, G., & Pisati, M. (2001). Statistica per la ricerca sociale. Bologna: Il Mulino.
• Cusack, T. R. (1999). Social capital, institutional structures, and democratic performance: A comparative study of German local governments. European Journal of Political Research, 35(1), 1-34.
• Della Porta, D. (2000). Social capital, beliefs in government and political corruption. In S. J. Pharr & R. D. Putnam (eds.), Disaffected democracies: What's troubling the Trilateral Countries (202-229). Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Eurobarometer (2004). European Commission, Public Opinion Analysis. Eurobarometer 62.2 Agricultural Policy, development aid, social capital, information and communication technology. Retrieved from http://zacat.gesis.org.
• Eurostat (2004). European Commission Eurostat. Trendfile 2004. Retrieved from http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu.
• Fukuyama, F. (1995). Trust: The social virtues and the creation of prosperity. New York: Free Press.
• Greenfeld, L. (1998). Is nation unavoidable? Is nation un-avoidable today?. In H.P. Kriesi (ed.), Nations and National Identity (37-54). Chur: Ruegger.
• Herreros, F. (2004). The problem of forming social capital: Why trust?. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Knack, S., & Keefer, P. (1997). Does social capital have an economic payoff? A cross- country investigation. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 112(4), 1251-1288.
• Kreft, I., & de Leeuw, J. (1998). Introducing multilevel modelling. London: Sage.
• Larsen, C. A. (2006). Social capital and welfare regimes: The impact of institution dependent living conditions and perceptions of poor and unemployed. Aalborg: Centre for Comparative Welfare Studies (CCWS Working Paper 38). Retrieved from http://www.socsci.auc.dk/welfare/Workingpapers/2006-38.
• Levi, M. (1996). Social and unsocial capital: A review essay of Robert Putnam’s Making Democracy Work. Politics and Society, 24(3), 45-55.
• Milgrom, P. R., Douglass, C. N., & Barry, R. W. (1990). The role of institutions. The Champagne Fairs in the revival of trade: The law merchant, private judges. Economics and Politics, 2(1), 1-23.
• Mota, F. (2008). Capital social y gobernabilidad. El rendimiento politico de las comunidades autónomas. Madrid: CEPCO
• Morrow, J. D. (1994). Game theory for political scientists. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Putnam, D. R. (1993). Making democracy work: Civic traditions in modern Italy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Putnam, D. R. (1995). Bowling alone: America's declining social capital. Journal of Democracy, 6(1), 65-78.
• Putnam, D. R. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York: Simon & Schuster.
• Putnam, D. R. (2007). E pluribus unum: Diversity and community in the twenty-first century, the 2006 Johan Skytte prize lecture. Scandinavian Political Studies, 30, 137–174.
• Raudenbush, S., & Bryk, A. (2000). Hierarchical linear models (Second edition). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
• Rothstein, B., & Eek, D. (2009). Political corruption and social trust: An experimental approach. Rationality and Society, 21, 81-112.
• Rothstein, B. (2000). Trust, social dilemmas and collective memories. Journal of Theoretical Politics, 12(4), 477-503.
• Rothstein, B. & Stolle, D. (2002). How political institutions create and destroy social capital: An institutional theory of generalized trust. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Boston, Massachusetts.
• Sniderman, P. M., Peri, P., de Figuerido, R., & Piazza, P. (2000). The outsider: Prejudice and politics in Italy. Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Press.
• Snijders, T. A. B., & Bosker, R. J. (1999). Multilevel analysis : An introduction to basic and advanced multilevel modelling. London: Sage.
• Tolsma, J., van der Meer, T. & Gesthuizen, M. (2009). The impact of neighbourhood and municipality characteristics on social cohesion in the Netherlands. Acta Politica, 44 (3), 286–313.
• Weldon, S. A. (2006). The institutional context of tolerance for ethnic minorities: A comparative, multilevel analysis of Western Europe”. American Journal of Political Science, 50(2), 331-349.