External Voting

Kacper Szulecki is Research Professor at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs in Oslo. He is a political sociologist specializing in transnational and European politics. He was the Principal Investigator in the DIASPOlitic project.Marta Bivand Erdal is Research Professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Norway, where she is also the Co-Director of PRIO Migration Centre. As a human geographer she is interested in the impacts of migration and transnationalism in both emigration and immigration contexts.Ben Stanley is Associate Professor in the Centre for the Study of Democracy at the SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Warsaw, Poland. His primary area of research interest is the politics of populism in Central and Eastern Europe, incorporating analysis of party ideological appeals and voter behaviour.

• 1 Introduction.- Defining External Voting.- Expansion of Emigrant Franchise.- External Voting Landscape: Countries, Elections, Criteria, and Modalities.- What Do We Know About External Voting? Migration Studies Meet Political Science.- References.- 2 Emigration and Transnational Political Practices in Central and Eastern Europe After EU Enlargement.-04–2007.- East-West Migration in Europe: Political Context and Consequences.- The DIASPOlitic Project, Data Gathering, and Methods.- Data Gathering and Method: Quantitative Analysis of External Voting Results.- Data Gathering and Method: Qualitative Study of Migrant Voting.- References.- 3 External Voting Patterns: CEE Migrants in Western Europe.- The Political Contexts of the Countries of Origin.- Bulgaria.- Czechia.- Latvia.- Lithuania.- Poland.- Romania.- Data and Methods.- Results of the Analysis.- Turnout Patterns and Change Over Time.- Overall Disparity.- Ideological Disparity.- References.- 4 Migrant Perspectives on External Voting.-Making Sense of the Reasons Why Migrants Vote “Back Home”.- Motivations for Voting in Country-of-Origin Elections.- The Practical Possibility of Casting the Vote in Elections.- Interacting Scales of Motivation for External Voting.- Emigration, External Voting, and Political Engagement.- Transnational Lifeworlds and Politics.- How Does the Experience of Migration Influence Political Views?.- Concluding Discussion.- References.- 5 Conclusions.- What Have We Learned About External Voting? Discussion of Findings.- Differences Between Diaspora Voting and “Homeland” Results.- Ideological Differences.- What Do We Know About Turnout?.- Why Do Migrants Vote, or Not?.- Legitimacy and Normative Considerations Surrounding External Voting.- Do Migrants Desire to Be “Agents of Change”?.- Research Frontiers and Future Knowledge Needs.- Three Areas for Further Research: Empirical Knowledge Needs.- Three Areas for Further Research: Normative Dimension.- References.