Immigration Rates and Homicide: Dissecting Their Influence on Public Satisfaction with Democracy

• In Event: Immigration and Justice Issues I

Abstract

This study advances prior research on how grievances related to corruption, economics, immigration, and safety impact satisfaction with democracy, particularly emphasizing immigration due to its contentious relationship with democratic satisfaction. Utilizing a multilevel cumulative ordered logit model across 233 regions and 24,183 individuals, it explores how regional differences in immigration and homicide rates moderate the influence of individual opinions on immigrants and their satisfaction with democracy. The study design highlights the challenge of integrating the empirical indicators of grievance at the regional level to understand their combined effect on democratic satisfaction, a gap in existing research.

The analysis reveals that approximately 29% of the variance in satisfaction with democracy is attributable to regional factors, underscoring the significant role of objective indicators of crime and immigration. Key findings indicate that while general migration rates positively correlate with democratic satisfaction, homicide rates present a critical moderating effect. Positive perceptions of immigrants are associated with higher satisfaction in regions with high immigration but low homicide rates. Conversely, in areas with both high immigration and homicide rates, satisfaction significantly decreases.

These results suggest that subjective opinions on immigration and objective regional characteristics significantly shape satisfaction with democracy.

Authors

• Erik Cruz, Florida Memorial University

• Christopher Torres, Loyola University New Orleans

• Mohammed Alqahtani, Texas International University