Polese, C; (2013) Negotiating Power between Civil Society and the State: the Formulation of Asylum Policies in Italy and in the United Kingdom. Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

The research focuses on the formulation of asylum policies in two contrasting countries, the United Kingdom and Italy. The overall aim of the thesis is to account for the pattern of similarities and differences between asylum legislation in the two countries via an examination of the context and processes of policy making. The hypothesis is twofold. Firstly, that differences in the nature of the state result in dissimilar policy outcomes and legislation. States vary according to their political and welfare systems and may be categorised on such bases. Although the EU Commission is strongly advocating the harmonization of asylum policies, member states still retain the power to decide who enters their territory and how to best deal with asylum claims, refugees and migrants. Secondly, that policy is the product of interactions between governments and a range of stakeholders, in which each actor has a vested interested in the result and is able to deploy a particular kind, level and direction of power and influence. The effect is that asylum policy in one country may be dissimilar to that of another because of the interests and power of each state’s stakeholders and the nature of the interaction between them and the government. The stakeholders include governments and their local and national officials, social partners, local and community organisations, migrant organisations, Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) and other institutions and groups such as employers, trade unions, religious groups, etc. The research aims to identify how stakeholders in the two countries interact with each other in creating asylum policy and how the nature of the interaction varies between different types of state. The methods employed are mainly qualitative. They include documentary evidence on parliamentary debates, NGOs reports, newspapers’ articles analysis and in-depth interviews with stakeholders including élite interviewing.

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