Studying Public Policy through Immigration Policy: Advances in Theory and Measurement

2019/07/11 by Alexandra Filindra, Sara Wallace Goodman · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #Migration, Refugees, and Integration #Social Policy and Reform Studies

paper · doi:10.1111/psj.12358

openalex publication_date 2019/07/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/09

Abstract

This essay provides a critical review of the field of immigration policy studies from the perspective of measurement and modeling. It serves to contextualize and broaden the views presented in the special issue. As such, we combine insights from American and comparative politics, pinpoint key limitations and challenges in the field, and identify areas of strength within each subfield which could inform theory and measurement development for the other. Ultimately, the concerns about conceptualization, definition, and measurement that we identify and discuss herein, do not apply only to immigration policy studies but to policy studies writ large.

Citations

• “Utter Failure” or Unity out of Diversity? Debating and Evaluating Policies of Multiculturalism
• Concept Misformation in Comparative Politics
• Do Perceptions Match Reality? Comparing Latinos’ Perceived Views of State Immigration Policy Environments with Enacted Policies

Discussions

• What can immigration policy studies learn from cross-field insights? This essay from our Special Issue on Immigration Policy Measurement gives a critical review of measurement, modeling, and theoretic [bsky, 3 points, 0 comments]

Related

• The Effectiveness of Immigration Policies
• Economics or politics? Assessing immigration as a challenge to the welfare state
• The il/liberal paradox: conceptualising immigration policy trade-offs across the democracy/autocracy divide
• Do Perceptions Match Reality? Comparing Latinos’ Perceived Views of State Immigration Policy Environments with Enacted Policies
• Presidential Address: “A Thousand Petty Fortresses”: Administrative Burden in U.S. Immigration Policies and Its Consequences