TY - JOUR

T1 - Does International Terrorism affect Public Attitudes toward Refugees?

T2 - Evidence from a Large-scale Natural Experiment

AU - Eady, Gregory

AU - Breton, Charles

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Does international terrorism affect attitudes toward refugees? Does terrorism mobilize the public to pressure legislators to restrict refugee policy? Are these effects long- or short-lived? To answer these questions, this article presents results from a large-scale natural experiment to investigate the effects of the 2015 Islamic State terrorist attacks in Paris on attitudes toward Syrian refugees in a country that is a major recipient of refugees (Canada). The results demonstrate that the attacks increased (1) anxiety over refugee resettlement, (2) perceptions of refugees as a security and cultural threat, and (3) opposition to resettlement. Furthermore, the attacks increased mobilization among resettlement’s opponents. Using a large-scale survey (n=18,634) fielded daily across a three-week period, however, we show that these effects were decidedly short-lived. The findings are highly relevant to our understanding of public reactions to major terrorist attacks and the responses of political entrepreneurs in their aftermath.

AB - Does international terrorism affect attitudes toward refugees? Does terrorism mobilize the public to pressure legislators to restrict refugee policy? Are these effects long- or short-lived? To answer these questions, this article presents results from a large-scale natural experiment to investigate the effects of the 2015 Islamic State terrorist attacks in Paris on attitudes toward Syrian refugees in a country that is a major recipient of refugees (Canada). The results demonstrate that the attacks increased (1) anxiety over refugee resettlement, (2) perceptions of refugees as a security and cultural threat, and (3) opposition to resettlement. Furthermore, the attacks increased mobilization among resettlement’s opponents. Using a large-scale survey (n=18,634) fielded daily across a three-week period, however, we show that these effects were decidedly short-lived. The findings are highly relevant to our understanding of public reactions to major terrorist attacks and the responses of political entrepreneurs in their aftermath.

U2 - 10.1086/714781

DO - 10.1086/714781

M3 - Journal article

VL - 84

SP - 554

EP - 559

JO - Journal of Politics

JF - Journal of Politics

SN - 0022-3816

IS - 1

ER -