Theories of International Immigration Policy — A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

Immigration policy shapes immigration patterns, which in turn have a tremendous impact on the demography, culture, economy and politics of a state. A rapidly expanding literature explores the immigration policies of individual receiving countries. But immigration policy theory is not well defined and lacks, for the most part, debates between various schools of thought on the subject. The aims of this study are to delineate the major approaches in the field of immigration control policy, to highlight the main strengths and weaknesses of each approach, and to analyze the influence of theories of comparative politics, international relations and sociology on those of immigration policy. The six approaches delineated are: Marxism, realism, liberalism, the “national identity” approach, domestic politics (partisan and interest group politics) and institutionalism. Finally, the article offers several research strategies that could serve to advance immigration policy theory.