Immigrants and Welfare
Research Perspectives on Migration
September/October 1996

Between Consent and Descent: Conceptions of Democratic Citizenship
By Douglas B. Klusmeyer
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1996

Controversies over citizenship are both a cause and a consequence of contemporary migration. In many settings, ill-defined and often conflicting ideas about citizenship leave substantial numbers of people feeling excluded and vulnerable. The author clarifies the sources of Western concepts of citizenship, from the ancient Greeks to modern social democrats: where they came from, how they evolved, and where they tend to lead. Into this concise historical account, he weaves a profound critical analysis of the contrasting values embodied in different approaches to civic membership.

Skilled Temporary Workers in a Global Economy
By Demetrios Papademetriou
Reforming US Temporary Worker Programs, B. Lindsay Lowell, Editor,
US Commission on Immigration Reform, September 1996

Managing Imperfection:Regulating Immigration Flows in OECD Countries
By Demetrios Papademetriou and Kimberly Hamilton
Migration and the Labour Market in Asia: Prospects to the Year 2000
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 1996

Putting the National Interest First: Rethinking the Selection of Skilled Immigrants
By Demetrios Papademetriou and Stephen Yale-Loehr
Bender's Immigration Bulletin, Vol. 1, No. 3, 1996

Converging Paths to Restriction: French, Italian,and British Responses to Immigration
By Demetrios Papademetriou; Monica L. Heppel
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1996

The authors discuss how France, Italy, and the United Kingdom are responding to the complex issues raised by immigration and asylum matters. They explore the often trial-and-error character of governmental responses to these issues, the absence of mainstream political-party leadership, and the growing disjuncture between initiatives motivated by increasingly restrictionist impulses and practical efforts to further immigration integration at the local level.

Balancing Interests: Rethinking the US Selection of Skilled Immigrants
By Demetrios Papademetriou and Stephen Yale-Loehr
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1996

The current system for selecting permanent and temporary immigrants by US employers is inefficient, unnecessarily burdensome and costly, outdated, and serves US national interests haphazardly. The authors enter the fray on how to reform "economic stream" immigration, undertaking the first critical evaluation of the present system. After comparing the US selection system to that of most other advanced industrial societies, the authors propose an alternative that enhances US competitiveness while protecting the long-term interests of US workers.

Coming Together or Pulling Apart? The European Union's Struggle with Immigration and Asylum
By Demetrios Papademetriou
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1996

Immigration and asylum are at the center of political debate in all 15 member countries of the European Union. Many governments continue to guard their prerogatives to act unilaterally on these matters while simultaneously expressing their commitment to the goal of a Union without internal borders. The author explores this paradox while tracing European efforts to find a collective voice on immigration. He argues that failure to resolve the tensions among member states on these issues has become a major obstacle to European integration as envisioned in the Maastricht Treaty.