Policymaking for Emigrants in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Mixed-Methods Study

Abstract

While scholars have identified models of political emigrant policies across countries, we still lack an understanding of how these models come about and persist. Using a sequential mixed-methods approach—including quantitative analysis of policy mixes in 22 Latin American and Caribbean countries and a comparative case study of Colombia and Uruguay—this study examines how policymaking processes give shape to policy combinations stemming from policies in the political realm, such as citizenship, external voting, and consultative councils. Our findings challenge purely economic or diffusion-based explanations, emphasizing policymaking as a dynamic, interactive process that organizes policies into stable yet adaptable patterns. Variations across countries are explained by differences in political culture, bureaucratic practices, and migration institutions. While grounded in regional particularities, our approach offers a middle-range framework adaptable to other contexts.