Public Attitudes Toward Immigration in the United States, France, and Germany

Explores the causes of public opposition to immigration by evaluating the effects of cultural marginality, economic self-interest, and contact with immigrants. The author concludes that being a cultural outsider usually drives immigration-related attitudes more than economics or contact do. Public Attitudes toward Immigration in the United States, France, and Germany explores the causes of public opposition to immigration and support for anti-immigrant political movements in the three industrialized Western countries. Combining sophisticated modeling of recent public-opinion data with analysis of the last 110 years of these nations' immigration history, the book evaluates the effects of cultural marginality, economic self-interest, and contact with immigrants. Though analysis partly confirms each of these three explanations, the author concludes that being a cultural outsider usually drives immigration-related attitudes more than economics or contact do.