Making regional citizens? The political drivers and effects of subnational immigrant integration policies in Europe and North America

Abstract

This special issue provides the first internationally comparative analysis of regional immigrant integration policies. The introduction defines socioeconomic, cultural–religious and legal–political domains of integration, expecting regions to be most active policy-makers in the first. Regional politics drives policy orientations: leftist regions develop more inclusive policies than their right-wing counterparts, and Rokkan regions with strong regionalist parties adopt more assimilationist policies than ordinary regions. Through policy feedback, regional policies also influence immigrants’ political integration, shaping their prospects of becoming ‘regional citizens’. Six empirical contributions assess these arguments for five federations (Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, United States and Canada) and two quasi-federal systems (Italy and Spain).