Alex Kustov studies public opinion about immigration—why it’s so durable, why it becomes so politically explosive, and what (if anything) can make it more popular. We talk about the surprisingly stable foundations of immigration attitudes, why only a small fraction of people are categorically opposed, and how partisanship shapes the debate. Alex also explains what he calls the “altruist’s dilemma”: why people who are genuinely altruistic can still be skeptical of immigration, and how policies that are demonstrably beneficial to receiving communities can shift that skepticism. Along the way, we explore what it would mean to design immigration policy not just to be good, but to be visibly and intuitively good to the public.
Dr. Kustov’s recent book is In Our Interest: How Democracies Can Make Immigration Popular. He also writes the Substack Popular By Design.
The episode’s introduction is from Episode 57: Media, Norms, and Social Change with Sohad Murrar.
Transcript
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