The impact of contextual factors on party responsiveness regarding immigration issues

During the last decades, the immigration phenomenon has gained increasing relevance in the European political space. This article examines to what extent the responsiveness of mainstream parties to the public opinion on immigration and to the objective migration context is affected by the party system configuration. The empirical analysis relies on data from the Comparative Manifesto Project, the European Social Survey, ParlGov database and OECD annual indicators on migration inflows, covering 17 European countries over the period 2003–2013. Based on cross-classified multilevel models, the results suggest that the presence of strong radical right parties enhances the responsiveness of mainstream parties to public preferences and the migration context.