States Beyond Borders: A Comparative Study of Central American Sending States and Their Emigrant Policy (1998-2021)

by Isabel Rosales Sandoval

Overview

The study of migration in political science, and particularly in international relations, has tended to focus on the study of immigration. However, sending states are increasingly institutionalizing their policies and programs to include emigrants living outside the national territory.

In her monograph, Isabel Rosales Sandoval focuses on the factors that influence the implementation of the policies that sending states have adopted to reach out to their citizens abroad. Specifically, she investigates why and how sending states implement transnational emigrant policies.

Her comparative study of three Central American sending states—El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras—identifies four policy categories that these states have developed: 1) recognizing the emigrant community through the creation of institutions; 2) cultivating loyalties in the emigrant community through symbolic policies; 3) extending emigrant rights; and 4) extracting resources by incorporating migrants into the national economy.

However, the motivation for the policies does not exactly correspond to the assumptions and typologies of existing theories on the subject, which tend to focus on international factors. The argument the author presents is that the characteristics of these three cases are better explained by domestic political factors. These are: 1) the importance of the size and potential impact of the emigrant communities; 2) party system competitiveness; and 3) the sending states’ institutional capacity to implement policies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783838217222
Publisher:	ibidem Press
Publication date:	09/27/2022
Series:	Critical Studies on Latin America. Debates and Alternatives for Social Change , #2
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x (d)

About the Author

Isabel Rosales Sandoval studied Political Science in Guatemala and Hamburg. Since 2022, she is an Associate of the Institute for Latin American Studies (ILAS) at the GIGA (German Institute of Global and Area Studies) in Hamburg, Germany. Previously, Rosales Sandoval held the position of Director of Master Studies at the Universidad Rafael Landívar in Guatemala. Rosales Sandoval is a member of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA). Her previous book contributions include Human Security, Borders and Migration (Edward Elgar Publishing 2021) and The Migration Industry and the Commercialization of International Migration (Routledge 2013).

Table of Contents

Abstract 7

Zusammenfassung 8

Acknowledgments 11

List of Figures 17

List of Tables 19

List of Abbreviations 21

Part I Introduction, State of the Art, Theoretical Framework, and Methodology 25

1 Introduction 27

1.1 Overview 27

1.2 Questions and Aims 29

1.3 The Argument and Hypotheses 32

1.4 Reasons to Study the State-led Transnationalism of Sending States and their Emigrant Policies in Central America 35

1.5 Focus of the Study 36

1.6 Conceptual Clarifications 37

1.6.1 The Sending State and its Motivations to Engage 37

1.6.2 State-led Transnationalism 38

1.7 Organization of the Study 39

2 State of the Art 41

2.1 Introduction 41

2.2 Political Science Contributions to Migration Studies 43

2.3 The Links between the State and Migration 46

2.4 From a Migrant-Receiving to a Migrant-Sending State Approach 52

2.5 Migration Policy 56

2.6 The Literature on the Case Studies: Central America 60

2.7 Concluding Remarks 64

3 Theoretical Framework 67

3.1 Introduction 67

3.2 Sovereignty and the State 68

3.3 Migration Governance 70

3.4 Measuring the Dependent Variable: State-led Trans nationalism 74

3.4.1 Emigrant Policy Mechanisms 76

3.4.2 State Involvement 78

3.5 Selection and Measurement of Three Explanatory Variables: Conditions for a Higher Degree of State-led Transnationalism in Emigrant Policy 81

3.5.1 The Size and Potential Impact of the Emigrant Community 83

3.5.2 Party System Competitiveness 84

3.5.3 The State's Institutional Capacity to Implement Policies 85

3.6 Concluding Remarks 86

4 Methodology 89

4.1 Introduction 89

4.2 Research Design: Case Study Methods 89

4.3 Case Selection: El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras; Similiar Features 90

4.3.3 Convergences 90

4.3.2 Divergences 91

4.4 Scope 91

4.5 Data Collection and Management 93

4.5.1 In-depth Interviews 93

4.5.2 Document Analysis 94

4.6 Concluding Remarks 94

Part II Describing and Comparing State-Led Transnationalism in Central America 97

5 Policies to Build Relationships with the Emigrant Community 99

5.1 Introduction 99

5.2 Recognizing the Emigrant Community: Institutional Policies 99

5.2.1 Creating Institutions, Foreign Affairs Actions, the Expansion of Consular Services 100

5.2.1 Promoting Work Opportunities Abroad 107

5.3 Cultivating Loyalties in the Emigrant Community; Symbolic Policies 110

5.3.1 Days, Districts, and the Celebration of National Holidays 111

5.3.2 Declaring Responsibility for Migrants 113

5.4 Concluding Remarks 116

6 Policies to Integrate the Emigrant Community 119

6.1 Introduction 119

6.2 Extending Emigrant Rights 119

6.2.1 Out-of-Country Voting and Citizenship 119

6.2.2 Legislative Representation 125

6.2.3 Hometown Associations 128

6.2.4 Regional Institutions and Agreements 130

6.2.5 Providing Education, Health, and Labor Protection Services Abroad 139

6.2.6 Assisting the Arrested, Missing, and Emigrants in Transit; Receiving the Deported 143

6.3 Extracting Resources: Incorporating Migrants into the National Economy 150

6.3.1 Facilitating Investment Services, the Productive Use of Remittances, Matching Fund Programs 150

6.4 Concluding Remarks 153

Part III Explaining State-Led Transnationalism in Central America 157

7 The Conditions for a Higher Degree of State-Led Transnationalism 159

7.1 Introduction 159

7.2 Size and Potential Impact of the Emigrant Community in the Country of Origin 161

7.2.1 The Emigrant Community Size 161

7.2.2 The History of the Emigrant Community 163

7.2.3 The Emigrant Community's Degree of Organization 167

7.2.4 Current Remittances from the Emigrant Community 168

7.2.5 The Out-of-Country Voting Rights of Emigrants 171

7.3 Party System Competitiveness 173

7.3.1 Fragmentation 174

7.3.2 Polarization 182

7.4 The State's Institutional Capacity to Implement Policies 185

7.4.1 Adaptability 186

7.4.2 Stability 186

7.4.3 Coordination 187

7.4.4 Implementation and Enforcement 188

7.4.5 Efficiency 190

7.4.6 Public Regardedness 192

7.5 Different Degrees of State-led Transnationalism Regarding Emigrant Policy 193

7.5.1 State Emigrant Policy Mechanisms 193

7.5.2 State Involvement 195

7.6 Concluding Remarks 204

8 Conclusion 209

8.1 Key Question Answered 209

8.2 Key Findings 210

8.3 Theoretical Implications 212

8.4 Implications for Policy and Practice 213

8.5 Avenues for Future Research 214

Bibliography 215

Legal Sources 241

Editorial Reviews

This is a thought-provoking, insightful, and well-designed study, which will no doubt make a significant and original contribution to the knowledge in the field of migration and emigration policies in Central America and beyond.

Detlef Nolte