Editorial
| Date | 01 June 2018 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12465 |
| Published date | 01 June 2018 |
Editorial
One of the characteristics of International Migration that sets it apart from many other academic
journals in the field is the intended policy relevance of the articles that we publish. Our stated pref-
erence is that our authors provide results of empirical research that will have a clearly indicated
bearing on the making of policy whether national, local, or international. Our valuing of evidence-
based policy-making runs us straight into the decades-long discussion of how or even whether
empirical research, especially as conducted in the universities of the world, can be brought to pol-
icy and profitably used. Many are the researchers whose attempts to inform policy result in the
frustration of appearing to have been ignored by those they had hoped to support. Although we are
sympathetic, we are also well aware that the making of policy is influenced by a great many fac-
tors, but we remain confident that among these factors is credible research in areas that govern-
ments are trying to manage. Policy makers, both elected and unelected members of bureaucracies,
are at the receiving end of a competition of ideas, ideas vying for attention and coming from
researchers, yes, but as well, from the mainstream news media, alternate news media, social media,
special interest groups and other lobbies, as well as the ever-present demands of politics, particu-
larly in democratic polities. This journal places credibility above all, but we do wish our authors to
be read, not only by their academic peers but by those in the policy community whose work could
benefit from the research that we make public. For this reason, we are working with our publisher,
John Wiley and Sons, to raise the visibility of the contents of this journal through special blogs,
social media, and other contributions beyond the regular academic press.
The relationship between research and policy is undeniably affected by politics. No government
policy-making effort can ignore the context of politics, for without these politics there would be lit-
tle if any government accountability. Policy is highly constrained by social conditions, economic
and fiscal conditions, the law, administrative capacities, and the limits of public confidence which
is one place where politics must play its hand. Politics is freer to offer visions of the future of a
society, but it is dependent upon policy and programs as well as public support to realize these
visions. The politics of immigration are now being played out at a global level with the United
Nations’process to develop a Global Compact on Refugees and a Global Compact on Safe,
Orderly, and Regular Migration, processes that we are following closely. In this our third issue of
2018, we feature articles on policies and politics of migration and the integration of migrants. We
encourage policy makers to be among their readers.
We begin with Reis et al who looked at the relationship between migration itself and political
instability. While recognizing that emigration is often motivated by economic and social factors,
they have found a strong correlation between emigration and political instability in Europe where
regular elections are associated with diminished emigration rates and endogenous elections are
associated with higher emigration. Vasilakis next looks at the relationship between mass migration
and voter preferences. The arrival of large numbers of refugees motivated a significant shift in
voter support for Greece’s anti-immigration political party, Golden Dawn. Staying within Europe,
de Guttry, Capone, and Sommario take us to the agreement between Italy and Libya which they
see as a result of balancing support for migrants’rights and providing border security to Italy’s citi-
zens. It has become apparent since they wrote this article that the agreement has had a major
impact on the numbers of migrants arriving on Italy’s shores.
Dr. Howard Duncan, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
doi: 10.1111/imig.12465
©2018 The Authors
International Migration ©2018 IOM
International Migration Vol. 56 (3) 2018
ISSN 0020-7985Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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