Exploring the Passage of Immigration Legislation in the Modern Political Era
Open Access
Author:
Fleischer, Rachel Sonia
Area of Honors:
Political Science
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Dr. Gretchen G Casper, Thesis Honors Advisor Dr. Michael J Nelson, Thesis Supervisor
Keywords:
immigrant immigration immigration legislation legislative process public policy legislation
Abstract:
This research quantitatively analyzes the impact certain variables had on the passage of
immigration legislation from 1973-2014. Testing variables such as saliency, government type, party
polarization, member ideology, public opinion, and others, I found that immigration bills are enacted into
law more during times of divided government than during times of unified government. Additionally,
using the trends over the 41 years that I studied, I also predicted the probability of the progression of
future immigration bills through the legislative process given certain conditions. My research helps
explain why past legislation has failed, what an “ideal” environment looks like in order to pass
immigration legislation, and provides researchers with another method of quantitatively analyzing both
immigration legislation and the legislative process overall.
