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Two Worlds Apart

The Divergence of National and Local Immigrant Integration Policies in the Netherlands

Leiden University

Peter Scholten

University of Twente

Immigrant integration has become an intractable policy controversy in the Netherlands. One facet of this controversy involves the different ways in which immigrant integration has been framed by national and local governments. National government has formulated a "citizenship approach" to immigrant integration, whereas local governments often chose a more accommodative approach to migrant groups. In this article, the authors argue that this discrepancy originates from the divergent institutional logic of national and local integration policies. National integration policies have resulted from belief in strong central policy coordination, a sharp turn from depoliticization to politicization, responsiveness to a series of focus events, and mood swings during the past decades. Local integration policies, in contrast, are characterized by a considerable degree of pragmatic problem coping, in particular, the instrumental use of migrant organizations. As such, the divergent logics of national and local integration policies seem to represent two different worlds of problem framing.

Key Words: immigrant integration • decision making • implementation • policy controversies

This version was published on July 1, 2008

Administration & Society, Vol. 40, No. 4, 335-357 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0095399708317172


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