Novikov K. E.

Main Page ~ Authors ~ Novikov K. E.
  • № 3, 2020

    • Integration of Politicians With an Immigrant Background in the Political System of Great Britain

      Against the background of mass migration in recent decades, the proportion of deputies of non-European origin in Western European parliaments is steadily increasing. In this regard, the question of the peculiarities of the political behavior of immigrants is of particular relevance. Does increasing the representation of ethnic minorities in higher authorities lead to the radicalization of their demands or, on the contrary, encourage integration into the host community? In search of an answer to this question, the author refers to the experience of Great Britain, which has more than a century of the presence of immigrants in the parliamentary corps.

      Having carefully analyzed the life trajectories of British MPs of non-European origin since their appearance in the House of Commons, the author reveals a clear tendency to reduce the share of particularists among them, focused on aggressively defending the narrow interests of their own ethnic group or immigrant communities per se, while at the same time increasing the number of generalists who position themselves as British and are aimed at representing all their voters regardless of their racial, ethnic or religious affiliation. If back in 1987 all non-white members of the English Parliament were particularists and radicals, but in 2017 there were less than 8% of them. The study shows that the increased participation of immigrants in the political life of their new homeland contributes to a weakening of group thinking and a decrease in the demand for particularistic policies.

      DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2020-98-3-181-200

      Pages: 181-200