A wide majority of countries acknowledge non-resident citizens' right to vote in elections in the... more A wide majority of countries acknowledge non-resident citizens' right to vote in elections in their country of origin. However, classical turnout theories do not take into account how electoral mobilisation has expanded into a transnational political field that reaches beyond national state borders. This paper analyses the determinants of emigrant turnout based on an original dataset of 25 countries of origin and each of the counties of residence where these voters reside. We find that emigrant communities from developing democracies experience a steep political learning curve that prompts their participation in home country politics, especially if they reside in countries with solid democratic institutions and linkages with their host societies. Our research also shows that remittances not only indicate commitment to family members' welfare in home countries, but positively influence participation in home country politics.
Policies allowing enfranchisement of non-resident citizens (emigrants and their descendants) are ... more Policies allowing enfranchisement of non-resident citizens (emigrants and their descendants) are now implemented in the majority of states worldwide. A growing number of case studies show that the extension of voting rights to non-resident citizens is often contested among country of origin political parties. However, there is no systematic comparative study of why different political parties support or oppose external voting rights and how this position is framed by the parties. Drawing on a unique dataset based on 34 debates across 13 countries, we estimate the extent to which ideology and party family are correlated with the positioning and framing of parties. Among the findings are that the more to the right is a party, the more it tends to support external voting rights, except in the case of radical right parties. The position on emigrant voting rights is largely framed along more pragmatic arguments.
Everyday Europe: Social Transnationalism in an Unsettled Continent, 2019
Barbulescu, R. I Ciornei, A. Varela. 2019. 'Understanding Romanians' cross-border mobility in Eur... more Barbulescu, R. I Ciornei, A. Varela. 2019. 'Understanding Romanians' cross-border mobility in Europe: movers, stayers and returnees In Everyday Europe: Social Transnationalism in an Unsettled Continent. Editors: Recchi E, Favell A, Apaydin F, Braun M, Cunningham N, Díez Medrano J, Duru D, Hanquinet L, Pötzschke S, Reimer D, Salamońska J, Savage M, Solgaard Jensen J. 195-224. Policy Press, Bristol 13 Feb 2019
The relationship between political parties and voters is usually analysed in a national framework... more The relationship between political parties and voters is usually analysed in a national framework. However, the majority of states worldwide allow their emigrant citizens to vote from afar. This paper analyses how parties confront the challenge of mobilising voters across borders. We present an analytical framework for comparing the scope of party transnational mobilisation strategies across different electoral systems. Drawing on a contextualised qualitative analysis, the paper analyses transnational electoral mobilisation of the emigrant vote in recent elections in Spain, France, Italy and Romania. The analysis shows that a cost-benefit analysis of electoral incentives explains the scope of transnational campaign efforts of many of the political parties, Yet, we also suggest locating the analysis of party strategies in the particular context of the transnational electoral field, including the high dispersion, uncertainty and volatility of the emigrant vote and the overlap between the electoral arenas among emigrants and at home.
A growing number of countries have granted their emigrant citizens the right to vote in homeland ... more A growing number of countries have granted their emigrant citizens the right to vote in homeland elections from afar. Yet, there is little understanding of the extent to which emigration issues are visible in the subsequent legislative processes of policy making and representation. Based on an original dataset of parliamentary activities in Spain, Italy, France and Romania, this paper analyses why political parties pay attention to emigrants. To that end we propose a conceptual framework which draws on both theories of issue salience and substantive representation. Bridging these two frameworks allows us bring in both parties (salience) and constituencies (representation) in the analysis of the linkage between electorates and parliaments at a transnational level. We test a series of hypothesis and find that parties are more likely to focus on emigration issues the stronger their electoral incentives and in the context of electoral systems allowing the emigrants to elect special emigrant representatives.
The concept of European solidarity has been frequently evoked in the context of the Euro-crisis. ... more The concept of European solidarity has been frequently evoked in the context of the Euro-crisis. And yet, solidarity across the EU remains largely undefined both in the public sphere and in academic debates. In this paper we discuss two aspects of EU-wide solidarity. They refer to public support for institutional arrangements aimed at sharing economic risks at both individual and member state level: transnational and international solidarity. We explore the joint role of cross-border interactions and political attitudes in fostering solidarity ties among Europeans through multilevel modelling based on the Eurobarometer 77 survey (2012). The paper shows that transnational experiences do not have the same effect on different forms of European solidarity, limiting transnational and enhancing international solidarity. Egalitarian individuals are more prone to EU-wide solidarity, with cross-border practices affecting their level of solidarity, while not altering those of the rest of the population. In particular, we find that cross-border practices make egalitarians more inclined to international (i.e., Eurobonds) and less to transnational (i.e., EU-wide help to the poor) solidarity. Note The authors would like to thank Wiebke Weber, the two anonymous reviewers and the Journal of Common Market Studies editorial team for their contributions to previous versions of this article.
This paper analyses the impact of European mobility in the field of the political nomination of i... more This paper analyses the impact of European mobility in the field of the political nomination of intra-EU migrants in local elections. The study contributes to the debates in the literature related to immigrant nomination and representation by showing how group resources and political opportunities in the country of residence interact with the political opportunities of the European citizenship regime. It argues that the symbolic and legal status of European identity, representation in the European Parliament and strong links between political institutions in the countries of destination and origin play a positive role in boosting immigrant political entrepreneurs’ visibility vis-à-vis host country political actors. In order to illustrate these findings, the paper provides a qualitative comparison of British and Romanian residents in Spain.
A wide majority of countries acknowledge non-resident citizens' right to vote in elections in the... more A wide majority of countries acknowledge non-resident citizens' right to vote in elections in their country of origin. However, classical turnout theories do not take into account how electoral mobilisation has expanded into a transnational political field that reaches beyond national state borders. This paper analyses the determinants of emigrant turnout based on an original dataset of 25 countries of origin and each of the counties of residence where these voters reside. We find that emigrant communities from developing democracies experience a steep political learning curve that prompts their participation in home country politics, especially if they reside in countries with solid democratic institutions and linkages with their host societies. Our research also shows that remittances not only indicate commitment to family members' welfare in home countries, but positively influence participation in home country politics.
Policies allowing enfranchisement of non-resident citizens (emigrants and their descendants) are ... more Policies allowing enfranchisement of non-resident citizens (emigrants and their descendants) are now implemented in the majority of states worldwide. A growing number of case studies show that the extension of voting rights to non-resident citizens is often contested among country of origin political parties. However, there is no systematic comparative study of why different political parties support or oppose external voting rights and how this position is framed by the parties. Drawing on a unique dataset based on 34 debates across 13 countries, we estimate the extent to which ideology and party family are correlated with the positioning and framing of parties. Among the findings are that the more to the right is a party, the more it tends to support external voting rights, except in the case of radical right parties. The position on emigrant voting rights is largely framed along more pragmatic arguments.
Everyday Europe: Social Transnationalism in an Unsettled Continent, 2019
Barbulescu, R. I Ciornei, A. Varela. 2019. 'Understanding Romanians' cross-border mobility in Eur... more Barbulescu, R. I Ciornei, A. Varela. 2019. 'Understanding Romanians' cross-border mobility in Europe: movers, stayers and returnees In Everyday Europe: Social Transnationalism in an Unsettled Continent. Editors: Recchi E, Favell A, Apaydin F, Braun M, Cunningham N, Díez Medrano J, Duru D, Hanquinet L, Pötzschke S, Reimer D, Salamońska J, Savage M, Solgaard Jensen J. 195-224. Policy Press, Bristol 13 Feb 2019
The relationship between political parties and voters is usually analysed in a national framework... more The relationship between political parties and voters is usually analysed in a national framework. However, the majority of states worldwide allow their emigrant citizens to vote from afar. This paper analyses how parties confront the challenge of mobilising voters across borders. We present an analytical framework for comparing the scope of party transnational mobilisation strategies across different electoral systems. Drawing on a contextualised qualitative analysis, the paper analyses transnational electoral mobilisation of the emigrant vote in recent elections in Spain, France, Italy and Romania. The analysis shows that a cost-benefit analysis of electoral incentives explains the scope of transnational campaign efforts of many of the political parties, Yet, we also suggest locating the analysis of party strategies in the particular context of the transnational electoral field, including the high dispersion, uncertainty and volatility of the emigrant vote and the overlap between the electoral arenas among emigrants and at home.
A growing number of countries have granted their emigrant citizens the right to vote in homeland ... more A growing number of countries have granted their emigrant citizens the right to vote in homeland elections from afar. Yet, there is little understanding of the extent to which emigration issues are visible in the subsequent legislative processes of policy making and representation. Based on an original dataset of parliamentary activities in Spain, Italy, France and Romania, this paper analyses why political parties pay attention to emigrants. To that end we propose a conceptual framework which draws on both theories of issue salience and substantive representation. Bridging these two frameworks allows us bring in both parties (salience) and constituencies (representation) in the analysis of the linkage between electorates and parliaments at a transnational level. We test a series of hypothesis and find that parties are more likely to focus on emigration issues the stronger their electoral incentives and in the context of electoral systems allowing the emigrants to elect special emigrant representatives.
The concept of European solidarity has been frequently evoked in the context of the Euro-crisis. ... more The concept of European solidarity has been frequently evoked in the context of the Euro-crisis. And yet, solidarity across the EU remains largely undefined both in the public sphere and in academic debates. In this paper we discuss two aspects of EU-wide solidarity. They refer to public support for institutional arrangements aimed at sharing economic risks at both individual and member state level: transnational and international solidarity. We explore the joint role of cross-border interactions and political attitudes in fostering solidarity ties among Europeans through multilevel modelling based on the Eurobarometer 77 survey (2012). The paper shows that transnational experiences do not have the same effect on different forms of European solidarity, limiting transnational and enhancing international solidarity. Egalitarian individuals are more prone to EU-wide solidarity, with cross-border practices affecting their level of solidarity, while not altering those of the rest of the population. In particular, we find that cross-border practices make egalitarians more inclined to international (i.e., Eurobonds) and less to transnational (i.e., EU-wide help to the poor) solidarity. Note The authors would like to thank Wiebke Weber, the two anonymous reviewers and the Journal of Common Market Studies editorial team for their contributions to previous versions of this article.
This paper analyses the impact of European mobility in the field of the political nomination of i... more This paper analyses the impact of European mobility in the field of the political nomination of intra-EU migrants in local elections. The study contributes to the debates in the literature related to immigrant nomination and representation by showing how group resources and political opportunities in the country of residence interact with the political opportunities of the European citizenship regime. It argues that the symbolic and legal status of European identity, representation in the European Parliament and strong links between political institutions in the countries of destination and origin play a positive role in boosting immigrant political entrepreneurs’ visibility vis-à-vis host country political actors. In order to illustrate these findings, the paper provides a qualitative comparison of British and Romanian residents in Spain.
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Papers by Irina Ciornei