The 'party for immigrants'? : social democrats' struggle with an inconvenient electoral issue
License
Cadmus Permanent Link
Full-text via DOI
ISBN
ISSN
0964-4008; 1743-8993
Issue Date
Type of Publication
Keyword(s)
LC Subject Heading
Other Topic(s)
EUI Research Cluster(s)
Initial version
Published version
Succeeding version
Preceding version
Published version part
Earlier different version
Initial format
Author(s)
Citation
German politics, 2016, Vol. 25, No 3, pp. 249-270
Cite
SCHMIDTKE, Oliver, The ‘party for immigrants’? : social democrats’ struggle with an inconvenient electoral issue, German politics, 2016, Vol. 25, No 3, pp. 249-270 - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/61528
Abstract
The German Social Democratic Party's approach to issues of immigration and integration is paradoxical: on the one hand, the SPD has traditionally been the party of and for immigrants', enjoying the support of the overwhelming majority of the guest workers' and their descendants. At the same time, however, the SPD has been extremely timid when it comes to promoting immigration and integration policies and capitalising on the immigrant vote. Using a frame analysis of party discourse, this article explores the reasons for the SPD's unwillingness to address immigration more forcefully, taking into consideration three main factors: the ideological divisiveness of the questions attached to immigration, the tactical choices of the SPD positioning itself in the strategic terrain of party competition and the challenges resulting from how the centre-right and smaller parties have made inroads into this field of highly contested electoral politics.