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

接收难民的国家以各种方式对他们作出了回应。一些收容国采取了比其他国家更慷慨的难民政策，随着时间的推移，单一国家在慷慨和限制性反应之间转变。这个项目的中心研究问题是：如何解释各州难民政策的这些差异？该项目认为，一个给定的国家对难民政策的选择不能通过检查其内部安全问题、经济气候或公众态度来充分解释。相反，这项研究将表明，国际和国内的政治竞争导致各国对其接收的每一组难民采取一套不同的政策。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，各国政府有政治动机偏袒那些拥有共同的主要种族身份的难民群体。把各国当作一个统一的难民政策来对待，掩盖了难民群体之间在待遇上的重大差异。将使用两种方法来解决研究问题和调查上述理论：统计分析和案例研究。首先，统计分析将探讨各国决定接纳难民进入其领土的一般模式。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种族构成和与邻国不同的关系史。个案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辅相成，结合在一起使我们对结果更有信心。除了该项目的学术价值外，它还将产生两个主要的更广泛的影响。首先，将公布难民流动的新数据集。第二，结果可能会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.