The Politicization of Immigration in Parliaments: Evidence From German State Legislative Sessions

Abstract

This article makes two new contributions to the literature on the politicization of immigration. First, it examines whether politicians politicize immigration in parliaments. Second, the two dimensions of politicization, salience and political polarization, are measured qualitatively. Topic modeling is used to analyze speeches held by each right-wing AfD legislators and Green legislators in three state parliaments during the peek of the so-called “refugee crisis” in Germany. The topic models show that, in contrast to Green legislators, AfD legislators address various other issues in speeches dealing with immigration. This is evidence that only AfD legislators attempt to increase the salience of immigration. Moreover, AfD legislators frame immigrants as a threat, while Green legislators frame immigrants as victims. This is evidence of political polarization. Thus, qualitative measures for salience and polarization suggest that the AfD politicized the issue immigration in state parliaments.