Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: Political Competition and Refugee Policy

接收难民的国家以各种方式对难民作出反应。 一些东道国采取了比其他国家更为慷慨的难民政策，随着时间的推移，单个国家在慷慨和限制性反应之间转换。 该项目的中心研究问题是：如何解释各国难民政策的这些差异？这个项目认为，一个国家的难民政策的选择不能充分解释通过检查其内部安全问题，经济气候，或公众的态度。 相反，这项研究将表明，国际和国内的政治竞争导致各国采取一套独特的政策，他们接收的每一组难民。 一方面，各国利用难民来安抚国际盟友，并对竞争对手施加压力。 与此同时，政府也有政治动机来照顾那些与他们有着共同主要种族认同的难民群体。 把各国当作一个单一的一揽子难民政策来对待，掩盖了难民群体之间待遇的重大差异。两种方法将被用来解决研究问题和调查上述理论：统计分析和案例研究。 第一项统计分析将探讨各国决定接纳难民入境的一般模式。 第二，将进行三个案例研究。 埃及、肯尼亚和土耳其有一些相同的难民群体，但每个国家都有不同的民族构成，与邻国的关系也不同。 案例研究方法使我们能够更详细地审查决策过程，并将更广泛的难民政策纳入分析。 统计和案例研究部分相互补充，并结合起来，为我们的研究结果提供更大的信心。除了该项目的知识优势，它将产生两个主要的更广泛的影响。 首先，将公布关于难民流动的新数据集。 第二，研究结果可以为联合国难民署以及相关的地方和国际非政府组织的活动提供信息。

Countries receiving refugees have responded to them in a variety of ways. Some host countries have adopted more generous refugee policies than others, and single countries have shifted between generous and restrictive responses over time. The central research question for this project is: What explains these differences in states' refugee policies?This project argues that a given state's choice of refugee policies cannot be adequately explained by examining its internal security concerns, economic climate, or public attitudes. Instead, this study will demonstrate that international and domestic political competition lead countries to adopt a distinct set of policies for each group of refugees they receive. On the one hand, states use refugees to reassure international allies and exert pressure on rivals. At the same time, governments have political incentives to favor refugee groups who share their predominant ethnic identity. Treating countries as though each had a single blanket refugee policy masks important disparities in treatment between refugee groups.Two methods will be used to address the research question and investigate the theory described above: statistical analysis and case studies. First statistical analysis will explore general patterns in countries' decisons to admit refugees onto their territory. Second, three case studies will be conducted. Egypt, Kenya, and Turkey share some of the same refugee groups, but each country has a different ethnic composition and a different history of relations with its neighbors. The case study approach allows us to examine the policymaking process in richer detail and incorporate a broader spectrum of refugee policies into the analysis. The statistical and case study components complement each other, and in combination provide greater confidence in our findings.Besides the intellectual merits of the project, it will have two main broader impacts. First, a new dataset on refugee flows will be made public. Second, results may inform the activities of the UN Refugee Agency as as well as relevant local and international NGOs.