A comparative assessment of public opinion toward immigrants and immigration policies

"This article is part of a larger study of public attitudes toward immigration in seven countries that historically and currently have had different policies and practices vis-a-vis immigration. The countries involved are Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan and the United States. The time frame for which most of the public opinion data will be reported is from 1970 through 1995. The data have been collected from national surveys that were conducted in each of the countries."     

THE OPINION-POLICY NEXUS IN GERMANY

This article analyzes the previously unresearched relationshipbetween mass public opinion and public policy in contemporaryWest Germany. By studying approximately 150 cases over the lastdecade, the nature of German democracy is revealed in relationto the overall consistency between majority preferences andgovernment action. The opinion-policy nexus is explored in regardto the impact of issue saliency, landslide majorities, differentcategories of issues (e.g., redistributive, foreign policy),and the partisan composition of the government (i.e., SocialD emocratic vs. Christian Democratic). In addition, there isa cross-national comparison of results for West Germany withthe author's previous research on opinion and policy in theUnited States, Britain, and France. The findings indicate that(like other nations studied) public opinion and public policyin Germany are inconsistent in a majority of instances and that(unlike Britain or France) the partisan composition of the governmentdoes not matter vis-à-vis the degree of policy-opinioncongruence.     

Quota Schemes and the Assessment of Employment Handicap in Britain and West Germany

Government legislation, in the form of the Quota Scheme, has proved ineffective in improving the employment opportunities of disabled people in Great Britain and strenuous efforts have been made by the organisation responsible for its implementation–the Manpower Services Commission–to abolish it. In West Germany, however, most organisations employ their quota of disabled people, although this is set at 6%–double the level required of British employers. Is German legislation in this area really more effective? If so, why should this be? And what are the implications for policy in Great Britain?     

Einkommen, Gesundheit und Mortalität in Deutschland, Grossbritannien und den USA

The paper examines the effect of income on mortality with respect to different health statuses and institutional characteristics of the health care system in the USA, Great Britain and West Germany. It is hypothesized that the nature of the theoretical contribution of income in explaining mortality risks changes on whether good or poor health is considered. Taking into account that the health care systems of the countries in question vary by their degree of household out-of-pocket expenditure, we expect an association between income and mortality that differs by country. The analysis is based on the German Socio-economic Panel (GSOEP), the British Household Panel Study (BHPS), and the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). The effect of income on mortality is found to be weakest when medical services are sought in the presence of poor health within the framework of a national health insurance that renders free primary health care (Great Britain, Germany). The effect is strongest when the provision of primary health care depends strongly on private expenditures (USA).     

Religious residue: The impact of childhood religious socialization on the religiosity of nones in France,Germany, Great Britain,and Sweden

One of the distinguishing features of religious life in Western Europe in recent decades has been the sharp increase in the proportion of people who identify as unaffiliated with any religious tradition (religious nones). Non-affiliation entails a rejection of religious belonging, not the absence of all religious belief and practice; yet the determinants of religiosity among nones have not been fully explored. Drawing on data from the 1998–2018 ISSP surveys in four West European countries (France, Germany, Great Britain, and Sweden), I test the impact of childhood religious socialization on the religiosity of unaffiliated adults by comparing lifelong nones, who were never religiously affiliated, with disaffiliates, who were raised within a religious tradition and have since exited organized religious life. Disaffiliates are consistently more religious than lifelong nones due to religious residue from childhood, with greater residue found among those who were more religiously committed as children. Religious decline among the unaffiliated over time, combined with the increasing proportion of lifelong nones and second-generation lifelong nones who lack even an inherited, minimal religious residue, suggest that secularization will gather momentum.     

The (unexpected) structure of “rents” on the French and British labour markets

This paper considers the allocation of labour on the French and British markets, using objective wage and subjective satisfaction data. We show that, in some sectors, workers enjoy both higher wages and higher job satisfaction. We argue that this reflects labour market wage rents. Perhaps surprisingly, wage rents are typical of the British public sector and permanent contracts, but not of their French counterparts. In France, such rents are found in full-time, rather than part-time jobs. Hence, the data provide little support for the usual a priori that the French labour market is structured along insider–outsider model lines, whereby wage rents are captured by the insiders of the public sector to the detriment of the private sector. However, they do suggest that part-time employment is involuntary to a far greater extent in France than in Great Britain.     

Local Day Care Quality and Maternal Employment: Evidence From East and West Germany

By investigating how locally available early childhood education and care quality relates to maternal employment choices, this study extends the literature, which mostly has focused on the importance of day care availability or costs. The authors provide differentiated analyses by the youngest child's age and for West and East Germany to examine moderating influences, such as work‐care cultures, in a market with strongly state‐subsidized provision and near‐universal participation of preschool children. The empirical analysis linked the Socio‐Economic Panel and the Families in Germany Study for 2010 and 2011 (N = 3,301 mothers) with regional structural quality data and applied multivariate regression models. In East Germany, mothers with a child under age 3 years who lived in districts with smaller day care groups were more likely to be employed and to extend their work hours. For mothers in West Germany and those with older children, day care quality was not significantly related to employment.     

A modest test of cross-cultural differences in sexual modesty,embarrassment and self-disclosure

Borrowing Hall's (1976) analytic distinction between Low and High Context Cultures, seven hypotheses distinguishing German nudists (low context) from French nudists (high context) are deduced. Data collected at public nudism beaches in France and Germany supports these differences; namely, that Germans have more overt time-space segmentation of activities, less differentiation of sexuality and sensuality, less body display, more male-dominated cross-sex body contact, more segregation of parts of the body, more staring behavior and more concern with accentuation of the body. These differences lead to conclusions that formulations by Weinberg (1964) of embarrassment and modesty are specific to high context cultures like the United States and West Germany and are inappropriate in low context cultures like France. Future trends in nudism are discussed along with the implications for modesty, embarrassment and self-disclosure.     

Outre‐Manche/Across the Channel: Ongoing Training and Gender in France and Britain

The French state‐levy system of ongoing training at work has not provided greater access for women than the laissez‐faire British system. While headlines figures suggest that women receive more training than men in Britain and that the gap has also closed for well‐qualified women in France, qualitative analysis shows that this does not indicate greater gender equity. The societal effect approach is useful for cross‐national comparison within the sphere of economic organization but must be combined with analysis of the gender order to account for differences and similarities in social reproduction. The case of the insurance industry provides detailed empirical evidence of the issues underlying this, particularly women's availability for ongoing training at work. The situation of women in each country is inextricably linked to a complex interdependence of a multitude of variables, some of which are similar, such as the workings of patriarchy, and some of which are different, such as state configurations of childcare infrastructure.     

Economic Development and Sex Differences in Political Participation

This study investigates the hypothesis that certain processes associated with economic development (urbanization, industrialization, increasing affluence, and increasing education) promote smaller sex differences in political participation. Two underlying assumptions are also tested, namely, that economic development stimulates: (1) the more equitable distribution of resources for political participation and (2) more egalitarian attitudes concerning women's political role. The data are derived from national election surveys of seven nations: the United States, Great Britain, Norway, France, Italy, and Japan. Eight different facets of campaign activity constitute the measures of political participation. The results only partially support the hypothesis and the two corollaries.     

学缘网络维度下留学人员社团组织形态的变迁

根据学缘网络理论建构分析在英、法、德三国的中国留学人员社团组织发展情况发现,与以往历史时期的留学人员社团组织相比较,新的社团组织受时代发展的影响,在组织形式、基本性质、组织目标等诸多方面都发生了巨大的变化。这就要求我国以全球化的视野和全新的方式方法处理留学人员社团组织问题,妥善加以引导,使其在留学人员权益保障、人才引进等方面充分发挥作用。     

Muslim Political Activism or Political Activism by Muslims? Secular and Religious Identities Amongst Muslim Arab Activists in the United States and United Kingdom

Scholarship on Muslim political mobilisation in the West has developed as an important counterpoint to public discourse, which has tended to cast Muslims as a threat to social cohesion, liberal democracy, and national security. But even as scholarly literature has shed light on civic participation among Muslims, it has sidelined the diversity of political identities and values that motivate them. Most, if not all, Muslims in the West find their identities politicised in some way, but the question of whether this leads to a consensus amongst Muslims about the role of religion in public life often remains unexamined. In this article we draw on interviews with seventy-eight activists in Britain and the United States who are both Muslim and Arab to complicate ideas about the political mobilisation of Muslims in the West. Respondents, we show, are far from unified in their views on religion as a basis for political action and mobilisation. Some are keen to place Islam squarely in mainstream political spaces; most, however, are insistent that Islam should remain a private faith and identity and that political mobilisation should take place under the aegis of Arabness or other ‘secular’ identities. Using theoretical perspectives on the public sphere, we explain the complexity of our respondents' political identities and activism. Our overall aim is to broaden perspectives on the ways in which people from Muslim backgrounds participate in public, political life in Western contexts.     

Toward a Sociology of Knowledge of Land Surveys: The Influences of Societies and States

Although land surveys can be viewed as accomplishments of strong states, this paper shows that they are successful not because of state power, but because of two social factors, lay knowledge and the alignment of social interests. Land surveyance is a strategic research site because it is technologically and labor intensive, so it is difficult to complete. The paper uses historical methodologies of comparison and narrative to show that a national land survey was never completed in the case with the strong state, England/Great Britain/the United Kingdom, while such surveys were completed in the cases with the weak states, the United States and Italy. Where the surveys were completed, there was widespread social knowledge about them and support for surveyance.     

The Development of a Black and Ethnic minority health policy at the department of health

Britain is a truly multiracial and multicultural society. Immigration into Britain in 1960s and 1970s was mainly fiom South East Asia, Africa and the West Indies. A large number of immigrants have now become residents of Britain and we have a second generation of Black and ethnic minority groups in this country who were bom in Britain. More recently we have been joined by a number of refugee groups and asylum seekers. In the last 10 years, there have been a number of initiatives which have been taken to develop appropriate policies to improve access to health services by ethnic groups and to understand their health and disease patterns. The main issues are: (1) What policies have been developed? (2) The main areas of concern. (3) The differing health and disease patterns among ethnic minority groups. (4) How the policies are being implemented at the health service level and the lessons learned. (5) How the health professionals are being trained to deliver appropriate services to these groups. (6) How volunteer groups are invoked in planning services. (7) The national health services have recently been reformed and have introduced the idea of separating the delivery of health care from its planning and of the purchasing of services by health authorities. It is important to examine whether these have an impact in changing health services to make them more accessible to ethnic minority groups. (8) What the future plans in this area of work are.     

FAMILY POLICIES IN FRANCE AND GERMANY

Welfare state literature almost always positions France and Germany in the same category, that of conservative–corporative regimes. Family policies, in particular, have much in common: both are explicit and generous in terms of taxation system and family allowance schemes. However, France strongly differs from Germany with regard to childcare policy and public support to mothers’ employment. France, along with the Scandinavian countries, leads the European Union in public childcare provision. In Germany, despite recent changes, there are still considerable gaps, at least where children under three years of age are concerned and the ‘male breadwinner/female part-time carer’ model is being actively promoted. However, there is a growing discordance between the aspirations of young German women with regard to paid work and the norms and values that still govern childcare and caring time policies. Therefore, a host of institutional and cultural factors shape the level and terms of mothers’ labour force participation in both countries. The impact of motherhood has a stronger effect on employment patterns in Germany than in France. French mothers are more frequently employed on a full-time basis and at the same time have more children than their German counterparts.     

Emigration dynamics in the Arab region. IOM / UNFPA workshop, 7-8 October 1996, Geneva,Switzerland

This paper describes the four research monographs on emigration that were presented at the December 1995 Regional Workshop in the Arab Region. The workshop was an exchange of views and discussion of policy implications of emigration. Monographs were presented by Dr. Mayar Farrag on emigration in Egypt, Professor Nadji Safir on migration in the Maghreb, Dr. Setenay Shami on emigration dynamics in Jordan, and Dr. Lynn Evans on behalf of Dr. Ivy Papps on migration in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Dr. Farrag identified three periods of migration. During the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, migrants were officially encouraged by Egypt to fill education positions. During the 1970s, many migrants left for the oil-producing countries on a temporary basis. Since the mid-1980s, the influences on Egyptian migration have been the economic recession and oil prices in the Gulf states, the completion of infrastructure projects in most Gulf states, and the replacement of foreign labor with nationals. Dr. Farrag recommended improving the migrants' skills in English and technology in order to maintain a dominant flow of temporary migrants to the Gulf region. Professor Safir reported that persons from the Maghreb region (Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco) migrated to France before independence and subsequently to West Germany and the Benelux countries. Algeria had the highest migration potential, and Morocco had the highest migration. Morocco had established networks in destination countries, high population growth rates, and high unemployment. Maghreb countries are receiving migrants from the south. Professor Safir recommended regional integration. Dr. Shami separated step migration from stepwise migration, which complicates push-pull theories. Dr. Papps argued that use of foreign labor may not be the best option for development, and that sending countries should be more aware of skill needs in GCC countries.     

Evaluating housing needs with the use of GIS

Rosario (Argentina) has different levels of housing quality and access to physical and social infrastructure. To assess the needs of newly decentralised districts, it is necessary to supply the municipality with new tools to analyse weaknesses and potentialities. The use of GIS can help in this evaluation. It can be implemented at the Public Housing Service to detect problem areas and improve the allocation of resources by efficiently targeting housing needs. Indicators are used to measure different levels of housing needs and provision of basic services. Spatial inequity related to the access to social infrastructure is calculated for the most disadvantaged groups. Expressed demand is also calculated and compared with the demand derived from the indicators. According to the evaluation it can be concluded that the city of Rosario is facing disparities inside the districts. The combined use of derived demand with expressed demand proves to be efficient to detect cases of housing needs where derived demand via indicators is showing lower levels of demand or hiding the situation completely. The growing demand of GIS tools and the availability of census data in digital format will improve and consolidate the evaluation of housing needs and its effect on spatial inequity.     

ICT for all? Access and use of Public ICT Sites in the UK

As part of their "information age' policy agenda, the UK government sees "universal' access to information and communications technology (ICT) being achieved via new and existing public sites, where shared access to new technologies can be made available at little or no cost. State-sponsored augmentation of public ICT access in the UK has involved a variety of initiatives, most notably the recent establishment of a network of over 7,000 "UK Online Centres' located in a variety of distributed sites such as libraries, museums and colleges. Whilst there have been a number of localized case studies of users of public ICT sites, there has been little large-scale "mapping' of how these facilities are being used (and not used) by the general public. Based on a randomized household survey with 1,001 individuals in twelve research areas in the West of England and South Wales - augmented with a "booster' sample of 100 interviews with individuals carried out in public ICT sites in these areas - the present paper seeks to explore: (i) who has access to what forms of public ICT sites; and (ii) who is (and who is not) making use of different forms of public ICT sites. The survey data suggest that, in terms of people's effective access to ICT, public access sites have a relatively slight profile when compared with household and wider family access - perceived to offer ready access to ICT by only a minority of respondents. Moreover, when the use of these public ICT sites is examined, there is little evidence of public ICT sites attracting those social groups who may otherwise be excluded or marginalized from the information age. Given these findings, the paper considers the influences underlying the currently modest impact of public ICT sites on the general population and suggests changes to current public ICT provision that may prompt wider usage of these sites.     

New Chinese Migrants in Italy

Italy joined the group of European nations with a positive migratory balance in 1980, but now the presence of an immigrant workforce is definitely embedded in the Italian development model. The shift from a net emigration to net immigration country occurred when the internal migration from southern Italy, which had provided the factories in northern Italy with the necessary manpower for their economic development, was coming to an end, and productive decentralization was beginning with the re‐emergence of small businesses. Twenty years later, small dynamic businesses that are mainly clustered in industrial districts specializing in local production are a distinctive feature of the Italian economy to the extent that among industrialized countries Italy counts the largest number of small businesses and the lowest number of employees per business (Accornero, 2000). Starting from the 1980s, opportunities for a low‐skilled labour force opened for new migrants mainly in these productive activities. In addition, throughout the 1980s and the 1990s niche opportunities for self‐employment in workshops producing for Italian suppliers were also appearing or expanding. Among other migrant groups arriving in Italy were those of Chinese origin. The crucial time for the recent migration flow from China to Italy — either directly or via other European countries, such as France and Holland — can be dated from the early 1980s. Since then, a succession of unskilled workers originating almost exclusively from the south‐eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang arrived in the country, after the family‐based chains of emigration that had almost come to a halt during the years of the Cultural Revolution had again been revitalized. The number of immigrants of Chinese origin has grown rapidly over the last 20 years, as has the number of businesses owned by the Chinese. By today, the Chinese migrant community shows the strongest entrepreneurial aptitude, and, according to recent national data, account for the largest number of small business owners among non‐European Union (EU) immigrants in Italy. Unlike the situation in most of the western European countries, such as Great Britain and the Netherlands, where the Chinese are active mainly in the catering service, in Italy their main areas of activity are the production of ready‐to‐wear garments, leather garments and bags, and woollen sweaters. Until recently, these seemed to be the only productive sectors open to Chinese immigrants. However, new trends are emerging in the employment patterns of the Chinese in Italy. The two most striking new features are the expansion from performing only simple manufacturing tasks for Italian suppliers to actually managing the entire productive process in the garment sector, and the growing employment in Italian firms, especially in the dynamic industrial districts where migrants of other origins were already working in large numbers.     

A time series of urban forestry in Los Angeles

There has been an increasing interest in the evolution of urban forests. This research uses historic and digital aerial photography to quantify changes in tree density in Los Angeles, California since the 1920’s. High-resolution geographic information system analysis (4 to 6 time periods) of three regions (San Fernando Valley, Hollywood, Los Angeles Basin) of Los Angeles reveals that there has not always been an increase in tree density with time. Tree densities on public and private land were highest in the 1940’s in Hollywood, while the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles Basin experienced a near linear increase in tree density on both private and public land since the 1920’s. When historic tree density reconstructions were examined for the 15 Los Angeles city council districts from the 1920’s, 1950’s and 2006, most districts in Los Angeles have experienced a significant increase in tree density, however, there has been wide variation in tree densities among city council districts. Trees densities have generally been higher on private land since the 1920’s and currently tree densities on private land are significantly higher than on public land. Results suggest the evolution of urban forests in Los Angeles mirrors the dynamics of urban forests in desert and grassland cities. It is possible to reconstruct the development of urban forests in sections of cities using historic and contemporary aerial photography. We estimated that Los Angeles averages approximately 104 trees per hectare (82 private land, 22 public land) based on 2006 imagery at 0.3 m resolution, however, field validation suggests that we identified only 73% of trees. Although there is still space to plant trees on public land, private land owners will need to be heavily involved in order to achieve the goals of Los Angeles’ Million Tree Initiative.