IMMIGRANTS POLITICAL INTEGRATION: THE CHALLENGE OF OVERCOMING MEMORIES OF POLITICAL REPRESSION ANTOINE BILODEAU DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY February 23 rd 2010 Metropolis Brown Bag Seminar

THE CHALLENGE OF OVERCOMING MEMORIES OF POLITICAL REPRESSION NEW WAVES OF IMMIGRANTS WITH UNIQUE POLITICAL EXPERIENCES The origins of new immigrants in Canada has changed radically in the last five decades: Greater ethnic diversity New cultural and political heritage Vast majority of immigrants have experienced political repression and have limited experience of democracy Source: Immigration Statistics ( ) Note: Countries have been classified according to the Freedom House Country Rating

What are the implications of these pre-migration experiences of political repression and limited experience of democracy for immigrants political integration in Canada? 1. Do immigrants relate to democracy in similar ways than the local population? 2. What kind of relationships do immigrants develop with political authorities? 3. Do immigrants participate in similar ways than the local population? Lets take a look at what we know so far… THE CHALLENGE OF OVERCOMING MEMORIES OF POLITICAL REPRESSION WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS OF NEW IMMIGRANTS POL. EXPERIENCES?

Finifter and Finifter (1989): American immigrants in Australia rely on pre-migration ideological positioning and partisan identification to develop new political preferences in host country Transferability of political skills/learning between similar political regimes Black (1987): Immigrants who used to participate in country of origin participate more in host country (Canada) Transferability of political skills/learning between political regimes, even highly dissimilar ones THE CHALLENGE OF OVERCOMING MEMORIES OF POLITICAL REPRESSION EVIDENCE FROM PREVIOUS RESEARCH RE: PRE-MIGRATION EXPERIRENCES What is acquired politically in one country is transferred to another country through immigration

Gitelman (1982): Greater authoritarianism, lower trust and lower efficacy among Soviet immigrants in Israel (in comparison to American immigrants) McAllister and Makkai (1991): Greater authoritarianism and lower efficacy among immigrants from countries with limited democracy Rice and Feldman (1997): Correlation between Americans civic values and the prevalence of civic values in the country of their ancestors Harles (1997): Immigrants from Laos in Canada refer to pre-migration experience to justify their reluctance to protest and be engaged with politics THE CHALLENGE OF OVERCOMING MEMORIES OF POLITICAL REPRESSION EVIDENCE FROM PREVIOUS RESEARCH RE: POLITICAL REPRESSION Experience of political repression appears to leave a durable imprint Lets take a closer look at evidence for immigrants in Canada (and Australia)

A minority should be free to criticize the decisions made by majority of the people % agreeing with statement NDCs ( 5 yrs) DCs ( 5 yrs) Local NDCs (> 5 yrs) DCs (> 5 yrs) THE CHALLENGE OF OVERCOMING MEMORIES OF POLITICAL REPRESSION Q1: IMMIGRANTS RELATIONSHIP WITH DEMOCRACY? (1/4) Note: Source: 1983 Immigrant Survey. Results report predicted percentages derived from multivariate analyses controlling for age, gender, education, income, employment status, and English proficiency.

People who hate the Canadian type of government should still have a chance to talk and make speeches NDCs ( 5 yrs) DCs ( 5 yrs) Local NDCs (> 5 yrs) DCs (> 5 yrs) % agreeing with statement THE CHALLENGE OF OVERCOMING MEMORIES OF POLITICAL REPRESSION Q1: IMMIGRANTS RELATIONSHIP WITH DEMOCRACY? (2/4) Note: Source: 1983 Immigrant Survey. Results report predicted percentages derived from multivariate analyses controlling for age, gender, education, income, employment status, and English proficiency.

The Main Problem with Democracy is that People Dont Know What is Best for Them % agreeing with statement NDCs ( 5 yrs) DCs ( 5 yrs) Local NDCs (> 5 yrs) DCs (> 5 yrs) THE CHALLENGE OF OVERCOMING MEMORIES OF POLITICAL REPRESSION Q1: IMMIGRANTS RELATIONSHIP WITH DEMOCRACY? (3/4) Note: Source: 1983 Immigrant Survey. Results report predicted percentages derived from multivariate analyses controlling for age, gender, education, income, employment status, and English proficiency.

Would you say it is a very good, fairly good, fairly bad or very bad way of governing this country to have… a democratic political system a strong leader who does not have to bother with elections and parliament the army rule the country a democratic political system a strong leader who does not have to bother with elections and parliament the army rule the country Local Immigrants - DC Immigrants - NDC THE CHALLENGE OF OVERCOMING MEMORIES OF POLITICAL REPRESSION Q1: IMMIGRANTS RELATION TO DEMOCRACY? (4/4) % who agree it is a very good or fairly good way of governing this country. Note: Immigrants in Canada for up to 10 yrs. CANADA 2000/06 NIS/WVS AUSTRALIA 2004 AES

Would you say it is a very good, fairly good, fairly bad or very bad way of governing this country to have… a democratic political system a strong leader who does not have to bother with elections and parliament the army rule the country a democratic political system a strong leader who does not have to bother with elections and parliament the army rule the country IMMIGRANTS POLITICAL INTEGRATION: THE CHALLENGE OF OVERCOMING MEMORIES OF POLITICAL REPRESSION Local Immigrants - DC Immigrants - NDC % who agree it is a very good or fairly good way of governing this country. CANADA 2000/06 NIS/WVS AUSTRALIA 2004 AES Note: Immigrants in Canada for up to 10 yrs.

Would you say it is a very good, fairly good, fairly bad or very bad way of governing this country to have… a democratic political system a strong leader who does not have to bother with elections and parliament the army rule the country a democratic political system a strong leader who does not have to bother with elections and parliament the army rule the country IMMIGRANTS POLITICAL INTEGRATION: THE CHALLENGE OF OVERCOMING MEMORIES OF POLITICAL REPRESSION Local Immigrants - DC Immigrants - NDC % who agree it is a very good or fairly good way of governing this country. CANADA 2000/06 NIS/WVS AUSTRALIA 2004 AES Note: Immigrants in Canada for up to 10 yrs.

Would you say it is a very good, fairly good, fairly bad or very bad way of governing this country to have… a democratic political system a strong leader who does not have to bother with elections and parliament the army rule the country a democratic political system a strong leader who does not have to bother with elections and parliament the army rule the country Immigrants who experienced political repression exhibit weaker support for democratic principles and non exclusive support for democracy CANADA 2000/06 NIS/WVS AUSTRALIA 2004 AES IMMIGRANTS POLITICAL INTEGRATION: THE CHALLENGE OF OVERCOMING MEMORIES OF POLITICAL REPRESSION Local Immigrants - DC Immigrants - NDC % who agree it is a very good or fairly good way of governing this country. Note: Immigrants in Canada for up to 10 yrs.

THE CHALLENGE OF OVERCOMING MEMORIES OF POLITICAL REPRESSION Q2: IMMIGRANTS RELATIONSHIP WITH POLITICAL AUTHORITIES? (1/2) DC Immigrants – no repression DC Immigrants – moderate repression DC Immigrants – severe repression DC Immigrants – no repression DC Immigrants – moderate repression DC Immigrants – severe repression DC Immigrants – no repression DC Immigrants – moderate repression DC Immigrants – severe repression FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PARLIAMENT CIVIL SERVANTS How much confidence do you have in… % who responded quite a lot or great deal of confidence Source: 2000/2006 NIS/WVS – Immigrants in Canada for up to 10 yrs.

THE CHALLENGE OF OVERCOMING MEMORIES OF POLITICAL REPRESSION Q2: IMMIGRANTS RELATIONSHIP WITH POLITICAL AUTHORITIES? (2/2) DC Immigrants – no repression DC Immigrants – moderate repression DC Immigrants – severe repression DC Immigrants – no repression DC Immigrants – moderate repression DC Immigrants – severe repression POLICE ARMY How much confidence do you have in… % who responded quite a lot or great deal of confidence Source: 2000/2006 NIS/WVS – Immigrants in Canada for up to 10 yrs. Immigrants who experienced political repression tend to exhibit greater confidence in political authorities

THE CHALLENGE OF OVERCOMING MEMORIES OF POLITICAL REPRESSION Q3: IMMIGRANTS PARTICIPATION TO POLITICS? (1/2) Note: Source: 1983 Immigrant Survey. Results report predicted percentages derived from multivariate analyses controlling for age, gender, education, income, employment status, and English proficiency. Conventional Participation Protest Participation DC 10 yrs DC > 10 yrs NDC 10 yrs NDC > 10 yrs

Immigrants – no repression Immigrants – moderate repression Immigrants – severe repression Local population Immigrants – no repression Immigrants – moderate repression Immigrants – severe repression CANADA (2000 NIS/WVS) AUSTRALIA (2004 AES) yrs 6-10 yrs Percentage abstaining from all protest activities THE CHALLENGE OF OVERCOMING MEMORIES OF POLITICAL REPRESSION Q3: IMMIGRANTS PARTICIPATION TO POLITICS? (2/2) Are they predicted percentages? Immigrants who experienced political repression tend to participate less, especially in protest activities

THE CHALLENGE OF OVERCOMING MEMORIES OF POLITICAL REPRESSION LESSONS FOR UNDERSTANDING IMMIGRANTS POLITICAL INTEGRATION (1/2) The experience of political repression leaves a durable imprint on immigrants political behaviours and attitudes in Canada: Relationship with democracy Relationship with political authorities Relationship with participation Relationship with politics in Canada is in part tainted by the relationship with politics developed in the country of origin: Non-exclusive commitment to democracy, trust and distrust Immigrants are not blank slate when they settle in Canada But immigrants also acquire new political learning in Canada Political participation: voting, communal activities, protest (?)

THE CHALLENGE OF OVERCOMING MEMORIES OF POLITICAL REPRESSION LESSONS FOR UNDERSTANDING IMMIGRANTS POLITICAL INTEGRATION (2/2) Immigrants political adaptation is process of cumulative learning: New experiences added on top of old experiences New experiences complement old experiences but do not replace them culture shedding and culture learning (Berry 2001): Yes immigrants accomplish culture learning, but it is not clear how much culture shedding they undergo Political integration is in part grounded in political legacies of country of origin Not just institutions, social networks, resources, and socio- economic status

Major demographic changes in immigration bring up new challenges regarding dynamics of political integration 1. Need to ensure common understanding of the rules of the game 2. Need to overcome distrust of government and fear of speaking out publicly 3. Need to ensure emergence of greater critical evaluations of governments 4. Need to ensure access to political voice to all in every mode of participation THE CHALLENGE OF OVERCOMING MEMORIES OF POLITICAL REPRESSION IMPLICATIONS FOR CANADA AND POLICY MAKING

IMMIGRANTS POLITICAL INTEGRATION: THE CHALLENGE OF OVERCOMING MEMORIES OF POLITICAL REPRESSION For more information please contact extension 5067