Book Projects
Book Projects
For a summary of my book project, please see this paper.
This book project identifies domestic migration as an important cause of inequality in political participation and democratic representation. I argue that the movement of voters within a country reshapes democratic politics because migrants differ systematically from non-migrants: they are more invested in national politics than non-migrants but participate little in local politics. At the root of these differences is variation in the strength of voters' local attachments and place-based identities.
Because of these differences between migrant and non-migrant voters, domestic migration leads to compositional changes in local electorates. The electorate becomes nationally-minded in in-migration areas, where voters are active in national politics but participate little in local politics. By contrast, the electorate in out-migration areas becomes locally-minded: voters here are less active at the national level but more invested in local politics. In other words, migration furthers geographic polarization not only in partisanship but also in the level at which voters engage in politics.
This sorting of voters has fundamental consequences for government responsiveness. Migrants' strong national political participation draws the attention of national political parties to in-migration areas, resulting in the systematic under-representation of out-migration areas in national politics. This political under-representation, in turn, raises democratic discontent and support for populist and illiberal parties in out-migration areas, which exacerbates political polarization and undermines democratic governance.
The book makes this argument through a comparative analysis of Germany and the United States. While these countries differ in numerous ways, I demonstrate that very similar patterns are at work in both. Taken together, my analysis identifies domestic migration as a little-acknowledged yet significant challenge to democratic functioning and stability.
This book studies variation in the experiences of domestic migrants in Southern Africa. We relate migrants' degree of social and political integration to the social institutions structuring entrance into and life within their host communities.
Scholars of migration have identified numerous obstacles that migrants are confronted with when moving internationally. The implicit assumption is that such "boundaries" are absent in domestic migration; scholars and practitioners largely assume that domestic migrants can move freely within their country.
We challenge this conventional view. We propose instead that throughout history and across the world, boundaries have played and continue to play a significant role in shaping domestic migration flows and influencing the integration of domestic migrants.
Empirically, we utilize original household and elite surveys to study how boundaries and other social institutions influence the integration, participation, and welfare of domestic migrants in Malawi and Zambia. We show how strong boundaries--in this context, powerful village heads and customary authorities--alter interactions between all residents, between residents and authorities, and between longer-term residents and newcomers.