The Role of Research in Immigration and Integration Policies. An Exploratory Study of the Policy-Research Nexus in Spain

Abstract

To what extent and how does academic research in Social Sciences
impact the immigration and integration policymaking in Spain? On the
basis of 14 semi-structured interviews with scholars and a literature
review of the main academic publications in the field, two main
questions are pointed out. First of all, research on immigration in Spain
developed as a result of the demand of social organisations and
administrations, which were in need of data to build up their initial
programmes and policies. Second, based on Penninx (2005) model on
the research-policy nexus, this article argues that while the centralised
character of immigration policymaking has translated into a marginal
role of researchers, the rather bottom-up integration policymaking
resulted in their significant involvement in policy formulation, though
much less in policy evaluation and revision.