Populist actors across Europe repeatedly accuse established parties and politicians of breaking their election promises on migration policy—thus deceiving the electorate and disregarding democratic mandates. In this narrative, migration policy is seen as the prime example of the often-invoked gap between political discourse and actual action.
But does this perception reflect reality?
The new MIDEM Policy Paper takes a closer look at France and Germany to examine the extent to which governments actually follow through on their migration-related election promises. The findings challenge the common assumption of a “discourse-policy gap”:
- In France, presidents fulfilled around 71% of their migration-related election promises made between 2007 and 2022;
- In Germany, governing parties implemented about 58% of the migration policy promises from their election platforms between 2005 and 2021;
- There is little difference in the implementation rate between restrictive and liberal promises.
This paper offers new insights into how democratic accountability in migration policy actually works—and what consequences this has for voters as well as political decision-makers.
