To What Extent Is Scottish Public Opinion on Immigration Different from That of the Rest of the United Kingdom

‘To what extent is Scottish Public opinion on immigration different from that of the rest of the United Kingdom?’

Intro:

• Evidence of wider social divide: Young and well educated university students and school leavers more likely to believe immigration is good for the economy.
• Scottish have always been perceived as being very open and welcoming to the idea of immigration. Is this changing in the rest of the uk? Link back to suggested ‘social divide’.
• Brexit, has this influenced public opinion on immigration? Majority of the UK and Scotland vote very differently on Brexit. Does this reflect attitudes to immigration as that was one of the key campaigns proposed by leave.
• UK considered as a whole to be very harsh on immigration. Why might Scotland be different?
• Over past decade there has been a surge in the rate of migration to the UK and Scotland. Consider influence on public opinion. More immigration to England rather than Scotland. Why? Effect on public attitudes.
• Consider recent election results, more Scottish people voting conservative could this be a link to change in public opinion towards migration. Moving away from SNP who are more liberal and pro immigration.

Para 1:  Try gage how Scots really feel about immigration.

• Focus on Scottish public opinion on immigration today.
• Traditionally why Scotland has always seen to have different views to the rest of UK. Is this perception true today?
• Identify concerns Scotland has that are the same as the rest of UK.
• Is this positive view on immigration reflective of all Scottish people?
• Does Scotland really have any control of immigration. Not a devolved power. If it did would they have a different approach to that of England. Is this why you might see change in public attitudes.

Para 2: Identify public opinions of the rest of the UK

• Try not just focus on England. Does Northern Ireland or Wales have similar feelings as Scots?
• Focus on current policies that are being introduced, current government= conservative. If most people feel that immigration is an important issue that should be tackled does this reflect in current choice of governing body.

Para 4: Current rate of migration in UK compared to Scotland’s.

• Influence on public opinion. Scotland receiving incredibly less than the rest of the UK although increasing. Does this influence opinion. In this respect could this create a difference?
• Discussion of facts and impact of migration in concentrated areas. How do people’s opinions differ from those experiencing the most and least rates of migration?
• Use Glasgow as example, seen to have most migration in Scotland. Is this encouraged? How do locals feel.

Para 5: Brexit results how does this reflect on public opinion; do it have any effect?

•  has this influenced public opinion on immigration? Majority of the UK and Scotland vote very differently on Brexit.
•  Does this reflect attitudes to immigration as that was one of the key campaigns proposed by leave?

Conclusion:

• All research not complete. Will come to conclusion once completed.

Notes:

Hainmueller( Intro):

∙         Foreign-born population is over double what it was in 1950 (UK)

∙         Potential to change politics in the Uk, government considers policies to manage immigration.

∙         But how they are perceived by native-born majority groups that are hugely influential in democratic politics.

∙         View is based on most research in the attitudes of national majority groups.

∙         Most research dominated by observational analysis of one time survey’s and field experiments. “limited scope”

∙         References to native-born citizens individual slef-interest, this perspective commonly view immigration as analogous to international trade. Very politically important

∙         Which in turn, allows scholars to examine competition over resoruces between immigrants and natives, whether this is through the labour market, government spending etc.. often developing clear and testable empirical implications.

∙         “socio-psychological.” these approaches emphasize the role of group-related attitudes and symbols in shaping immigration attitudes.

∙         Such approaches sometimes conceive of immigrant-native differences as similar to differences based on race, religion, or other ascriptive features

∙         Much more consistently, recent research shows that immigration-related attitudes are driven by concerns about the nation , including  symbolic or cultural threats as well as perceived economic threats

∙         Conceptual work is needed as well: the overwhelming emphasis on testing economic versus cultural explanations can obscure as much as it illuminates.

∙         scholarship on immigration attitudes has also too often treated immigration attitudes as isolated from partisanship and political ideology, leaving important questions about the role of party cues in immigration attitudes unanswered.