Does Migration Make Better Democrats? The Limits of Political Remittances in CEE

• In Event: Voting Behavior and Legislatures: Insights and Implications

Abstract

In recent years, Central and Eastern European countries experienced unprecedented levels of emigration. The political consequences of this phenomenon, however, remain little understood - while some claim migration leads to the diffusion of democratic norms through political remittances, thus supporting democracy, others point to a political brain drain, rising anxieties, and disengagement. I argue that several previously neglected factors, particularly migrants’ slow process of value absorption, prevent the remitting of democratic norms. Using both longitudinal and cross-sectional data, I discover no positive impact of migration experience or networks abroad on democratic support, political interest, or participation. On the contrary, former migrants become disengaged and less likely to vote. An analysis of migrants indicates the non-effect stems from a lack of value absorption, with this process taking a decade or more. Migration, then, seems to have done little to support the region’s democracies and may have only hampered them.

Author

• Mihnea Vlad Cuibus, Oxford University