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By: Hannah L. Paul

Abstract:Ìý

What explains variation in the political integration of immigrants and refugees in established,
democratic countries? Post-resettlement, people with refugee backgrounds must find ways to work,
cultivate social ties, and adapt to a new political system. In order for immigrants and refugees to
experience meaningful representation in politics, they must find ways to become involved and get
the political system to respond to their preferences. Across four stand-alone chapters, I examine
the factors that increase support for immigrants and refugees in host country populations and test
the factors that promote refugee engagement in politics in their host country. In Chapter 2, I
analyze a survey of young adults in Sweden, which shows that the psychological trait of empathy
is associated with support for immigrants. Addressing the possible mediating effect of partisan
leaning, results from a mediation analysis suggest that natural empathy directly affects attitudes
towards immigrants. In Chapter 3, I test an intervention designed to trigger empathy and support
for refugees using an original survey experiment administered in the United States. I find that
personalizing language about a refugee’s forced migration experience, similar to the testimonials
shared by pro-refugee groups and advocates, has no effect on people’s feelings of empathy for
refugees and does not change their support for refugees compared to the control group. In Chapter
4, I examine the political attitudes of refugees themselves using a mixed methods approach that
utilizes group interview data and a survey experiment. I find that refugees view politics through
a personalized lens. Across groups, participants expressed the importance of political leaders’
characteristics in making decisions about whom to support. Using a survey experiment administered
to Bhutanese refugees in Michigan, I explore the effects of perceptions of the character of political
leaders on refugees’ political trust and find that personalizing the Governor of Michigan leads to
a modest increase in trust for the Governor compared to the control group. The personalizing

treatment does not influence other forms of political trust or different types of attitudes, suggesting
that personalizing a political leader has a narrow effect and does not lead to diffuse trust or increased
political efficacy. In Chapter 5, I examine the factors that increase support for political institutions
among refugees. Pitting three explanations for political engagement against each other, I test
whether refugee party support is primarily formed by the state, the market, or society. I find that
refugees who participate in a state-run integration course are more likely to support a political
party compared to refugees who have not taken the course. Integration course participation also
leads to increases in political interest, political knowledge and fewer reports of discrimination.
Taken together, this research informs our understanding of ways to accommodate the political
integration of growing involuntary migrant populations across Europe, the United States and other
refugee-receiving places.
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