Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-m9kch Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-02T03:31:57.505Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Social Welfare Attitudes and Immigrants as a Target Population: Experimental Evidence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 September 2020

Jake Haselswerdt Open the ORCID record for Jake Haselswerdt [Opens in a new window]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

What makes some Americans assume that social welfare programs will benefit immigrants rather than native-born Americans? How do these assumptions shape their attitudes about policy? Recent observational research has shown that immigration attitudes and social welfare attitudes are strongly correlated, but we lack evidence of exactly how this relationship works. In this pre-registered survey experiment, I study respondents’ assumptions about beneficiaries of a generic social welfare policy, and test the effects of different “threat” primes on the assumption that the policy benefits immigrants rather than native-born Americans. I find that a prime constructing immigrants as a fiscal threat increases the likelihood that a respondent will make this assumption, while a prime emphasizing cultural or demographic threat has no significant effect. These effects vary by geographic context, but not by relevant attitudes. Attitudes about immigration become an important predictor of policy approval when this assumption is triggered.

Type
Special Section: The Politics of Immigration
Information
Perspectives on Politics , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , June 2021 , pp. 442 - 459
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Political Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

Data replication sets are available in Harvard Dataverse at: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/KHZER5

The author would like to thank Maureen Eger and Yunju Nam for feedback and comments on this project, and Kate Perry and Grace Yousefi for research assistance. The author also thanks the editor and three anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions.

References

Abrajano, Marisa, and Hajnal, Zoltan. 2015. White Backlash: Immigration, Race, and American Politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Abrajano, Marisa, and Lundgren, Lydia. 2015. “How Watershed Immigration Policies Affect American Public Opinion over a Lifetime.” International Migration Review 49(1): 70–105.10.1111/imre.12082CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alesina, Alberto, Miano, Armando, and Stantcheva, Stefanie. 2019. “Immigration and Redistribution.” NBER Working Paper 24733.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andersen, Jørgen Goul, and Bjørklund, Tor. 1990. “Structural Changes and New Cleavages: The Progress Parties in Denmark and Norway.” Acta Sociologica 33(3): 195–217.10.1177/000169939003300303CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brady, David, and Finnigan, Ryan. 2014. “Does Immigration Undermine Public Support for Social Policy?” American Sociological Review 79(1): 17–42.10.1177/0003122413513022CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brambor, Thomas, Clark, William Roberts, and Golder, Matt. 2006. “Understanding Interaction Models: Improving Empirical Analyses.” Political Analysis 14(1): 63–82.10.1093/pan/mpi014CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Branton, Regina, Cassese, Erin C., Jones, Bradford S., and Westerland, Chad. 2011. “All Along the Watchtower: Acculturation Fear, Anti-Latino Affect, and Immigration.” Journal of Politics 73(3): 664–79.10.1017/S0022381611000375CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, Hana E. 2013a. “The New Racial Politics of Welfare: Ethno-Racial Diversity, Immigration, and Welfare Discourse Variation.” Social Service Review 87(3): 586–612.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, Hana E. 2013b. “Race, Legality, and the Social Policy Consequences of Anti-Immigration Mobilization.” American Sociological Review 78(2): 290–314.10.1177/0003122413476712CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burgoon, Brian, Koster, Ferry, and van Egmond, Marcel. 2012. “Support for Redistribution and the Paradox of Immigration.” Journal of European Social Policy 22(3): 288–304.10.1177/0958928712440198CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cameron, A. Colin, and Miller, Douglas L.. 2015. “A Practitioner’s Guide to Cluster-Robust Inference.” Journal of Human Resources 50(2): 317–72.10.3368/jhr.50.2.317CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Camorata, Steven A. 2015. “Welfare Use by Immigrant and Native Households: An Analysis of Medicaid, Cash, Food, and Housing Programs.” Center for Immigration Studies. (http://cis.org/sites/cis.org/files/camarota-welfare-final.pdf).Google Scholar
Carter, Niambi Michelle. 2019. American While Black: African-Americans, Immigration, and the Limits of Citizenship. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/oso/9780190053550.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crepaz, Markus M.L. 2008. Trust Beyond Borders: Immigration, the Welfare State, and Identity in Modern Societies. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Dahlberg, Matz, Edmark, Karin, and Lundqvist, Helene. 2012. “Ethnic Diversity and Preferences for Redistribution.” Journal of Political Economy 120(1): 41–76.10.1086/665800CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Denhart, Matthew. 2017. “America’s Advantage: A Handbook on Immigration and Economic Growth.” 3rd ed..” George W. Bush Institute. (https://gwbcenter.imgix.net/Resources/gwbi-americas-advantage-immigration-handbook-2017.pdf).Google Scholar
Eger, Maureen A. 2010. “Even in Sweden: The Effect of Immigration on Support for Welfare State Spending.” European Sociological Review 26(2): 203–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eger, Maureen A., and Breznau, Nate. 2017. “Immigration and the Welfare State: A Cross-Regional Analysis of European Welfare Attitudes.” International Journal of Comparative Sociology 58(5): 440–63.10.1177/0020715217690796CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Facchini, Giovanni, and Mayda, Anna Maria. 2009. “Does the Welfare State Affect Individual Attitudes Toward Immigrants? Evidence Across Countries.” Review of Economics and Statistics 91(2): 295–314. doi:10.1162/rest.91.2.295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fox, Cybelle. 2004. “The Changing Color of Welfare? How Whites’ Attitudes toward Latinos Influence Support for Welfare.” American Journal of Sociology 110(3): 580–625.10.1086/422587CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garand, James C., Xu, Ping, and Davis, Belinda C.. 2017. “Immigration Attitudes and Support for the Welfare State in the American Mass Public.” American Journal of Political Science 61(1): 146–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gee, Lisa Christensen, Gardner, Matthew, Hill, Misha E., and Wiehe, Meg. 2017. “Undocumented Immigrants’ State & Local Tax Contributions.” Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy. (https://itep.org/wp-content/uploads/immigration2017.pdf).Google Scholar
Gilens, Martin. 1996. “‘Race Coding’ and White Opposition to Welfare.” American Political Science Review 90(3): 593–604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilens, Martin. 1999. Why Americans Hate Welfare: Race, Media, and the Politics of Antipoverty Policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hainmueller, Jens, and Hiscox, Michael J.. 2010. “Attitudes toward Highly Skilled and Low-Skilled Immigration: Evidence from a Survey Experiment.” American Political Science Review 104(1): 61–84. doi:10.1017/S0003055409990372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanson, Gordon H., Scheve, Kenneth F., and Slaughter, Matthew. 2007. “Public Finance and Individual Preferences over Globalization Strategies.” Economics & Politics 19(1): 1–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haselswerdt, Jake. 2017. “Immigration and Social Welfare Survey Experiment.” Evidence in Government and Politics / Open Science Framework pre-registration, July 14. (https://osf.io/v7ymc).Google Scholar
Haselswerdt, Jake. 2020. “Who Benefits? Race, Immigration, and Assumptions about Policy.” Political Behavior. doi.org/10.1007/s11109-020-09608-3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawes, Daniel P., and McCrea, Austin Michael. 2017. “Give Us Your Tired, Your Poor and We Might Buy Them Dinner: Social Capital, Immigration, and Welfare Generosity in the American States.” Political Research Quarterly 71(2): 347–60.10.1177/1065912917738576CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henry, P. J., and Sears, David O.. 2002. “The Symbolic Racism 2000 Scale.” Political Psychology 23(2): 253–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hero, Rodney E., and Preuhs, Robert R.. 2007. “Immigration and the Evolving American Welfare State: Examining Policies in the U.S. States.” American Journal of Political Science 51(3): 498–517.10.1111/j.1540-5907.2007.00264.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hjerm, Mikael, and Schnabel, Annette. 2012. “How Much Heterogeneity Can the Welfare State Endure? The Influence of Heterogeneity on Attitudes to the Welfare State.” Nations and Nationalism 18(2): 346–69.10.1111/j.1469-8129.2011.00523.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hopkins, Daniel J. 2010. “Politicized Places: Explaining Where and When Immigrants Provoke Local Opposition.” American Political Science Review 104(1): 40–60.10.1017/S0003055409990360CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jardina, Ashley. 2019. White Identity Politics. New York: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/9781108645157CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaiser Family Foundation. 2019. “Changes to ’Public Charge’ Inadmissibility Rule: Implications for Health and Health Coverage.” (https://www.kff.org/disparities-policy/fact-sheet/public-charge-policies-for-immigrants-implications-for-health-coverage/).Google Scholar
Knoll, Benjamin R., and Shewmaker, Jordan. 2015. “‘Simply Un-American’: Nativism and Support for Health Care Reform.” Political Behavior 37(1): 87–108.10.1007/s11109-013-9263-zCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koster, Willem de, Achterberg, Peter, and van der Waal, Jeroen. 2012. “The New Right and the Welfare State: The Electoral Relevance of Welfare Chauvinism and Welfare Populism in the Netherlands.” International Political Science Review 34(1): 3–20.10.1177/0192512112455443CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larsen, Christian Albrekt. 2011. “Ethnic Heterogeneity and Public Support for Welfare: Is the American Experience Replicated in Britain, Sweden and Denmark?” Scandinavian Political Studies 34(4): 332–53.10.1111/j.1467-9477.2011.00276.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Long, Colleen, and Colvin, Jill. 2019. “New Rules to Deny Green Cards to Many Legal Immigrants.” Associated Press. (https://www.apnews.com/f440cbe61eb642c99f4d9a47e437c526).Google Scholar
Mau, Steffen, and Burkhardt, Christoph. 2009. “Migration and Welfare State Solidarity in Western Europe.” Journal of European Social Policy 19(3): 213–29.10.1177/0958928709104737CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Montgomery, Jacob M., Nyhan, Brendan, and Torres, Michelle. 2018. “How Conditioning on Posttreatment Variables Can Ruin Your Experiment and What to Do About It.” American Journal of Political Science 62(3): 760–75.10.1111/ajps.12357CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oorschot, Wim van. 2006. “Making the Difference in Social Europe: Deservingness Perceptions among Citizens of European Welfare States.” Journal of European Social Policy 16(1): 23–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peffley, Mark, Hurwitz, Jon, and Sniderman, Paul M.. 1997. “Racial Stereotypes and Whites’ Political Views of Blacks in the Context of Welfare and Crime.” American Journal of Political Science 41(1): 30–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pérez, Efrén O. 2016. Unspoken Politics: Implicit Attitudes and Political Thinking. New York: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9781316460078CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rector, Robert, and Richwine, Jason. 2013. “The Fiscal Cost of Unlawful Immigrants and Amnesty to the U.S. Taxpayer.” Heritage Foundation Special Report. (http://www.heritage.org/immigration/report/the-fiscal-cost-unlawful-immigrants-and-amnesty-the-us-taxpayer).Google Scholar
Reeskens, Tim, and van Oorschot, Wim. 2012. “Disentangling the ‘New Liberal Dilemma’: On the Relation Between General Welfare Redistribution Preferences and Welfare Chauvinism.” International Journal of Comparative Sociology 53(2): 120–39.10.1177/0020715212451987CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rocha, Rene R., Longoria, Thomas, Wrinkle, Robert D., Knoll, Benjamin R., Polinard, J. L., and Wenzel, James. 2011. “Ethnic Context and Immigration Policy Preferences Among Latinos and Anglos.” Social Science Quarterly 92(1): 1-1910.1111/j.1540-6237.2011.00754.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryan, Camille. 2013. “Language Use in the United States: 2011.” American Community Survey Report Number ACS-22. (http://www.afscmeinfocenter.org/blog/2013/08/language-use-in-the-united-states-2011.htm#.XvN8WEVKiUk).Google Scholar
Schmidt-Catran, Alexander W., and Spies, Dennis C.. 2016. “Immigration and Welfare Support in Germany.” American Sociological Review 81(2): 242–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, Anne, and Ingram, Helen. 1993. “Social Construction of Target Populations: Implications for Politics and Policy.” American Political Science Review 87(2): 334–47.10.2307/2939044CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soss, Joe, and Schram, Sanford F.. 2007. “A Public Transformed? Welfare Reform as Policy Feedback.” American Political Science Review 101(1): 111–27.10.1017/S0003055407070049CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soss, Joe, Schram, Sanford F., Vartanian, Thomas P., and O’Brien, Erin. 2001. “Setting the Terms of Relief: Explaining State Policy Choices in the Devolution Revolution.” American Journal of Political Science 45(2): 378–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sumino, Takanori. 2014. “Does Immigration Erode the Multicultural Welfare State? A Cross-National Multilevel Analysis in 19 OECD Member States.” Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies 40(3): 436–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trump, Donald J. 2019. “State of the Union Address.” (https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/05/politics/donald-trump-state-of-the-union-2019-transcript/index.html).Google Scholar
Trump, Donald J. 2020. “State of the Union Address.” (https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/04/politics/trump-2020-state-of-the-union-address/index.html).Google Scholar
Waal, Jeroen van der, Achterberg, Peter, Houtman, Dick, de Koster, Willem, and Manevska, Katerina. 2010. “‘Some Are More Equal Than Others’: Economic Egalitarianism and Welfare Chauvinism in the Netherlands.” Journal of European Social Policy 20(4): 350–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wegmann, Philip. 2019. “Trump to Bill Sponsors for Immigrants’ Welfare Benefits.” Real Clear Politics. (https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/05/23/trump_to_bill_sponsors_for_immigrants_welfare_benefits.html).Google Scholar
Wetts, Rachel, and Willer, Robb. 2018. “Privilege on the Precipice: Perceived Racial Status Threats Lead White Americans to Oppose Welfare Programs.” Social Forces 97(2): 793-822.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winter, Nicholas J. G. 2008. Dangerous Frames: How Ideas About Race and Gender Shape Public Opinion. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zaller, John. 1992. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. New York: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511818691CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhu, Ling, and Xu, Ping. 2015. “The Politics of Welfare Exclusion: Immigration and Disparity in Medicaid Coverage.” Policy Studies Journal 43(4): 456–83.10.1111/psj.12106CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: Link

Haselswerdt Dataset

Dataset

https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/KHZER5
Link
Supplementary material: PDF

Haselswerdt supplementary material

Appendices

Download Haselswerdt supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 437.4 KB