ABSTRACT
Some countries have introduced voting rights in local elections for denizens; other countries have not; but more or less serious proposals to grant political representation have been made almost everywhere in Western Europe. In this chapter and the next, we shall discuss both the aims and ambitions of this electoral reform, and the actual outcomes as far as we know them. We shall look at turnout rates, and then especially report on the Swedish elections which are the best studied. We shall begin with an overview of factors that may be expected to reduce political interest and participation among immigrants generally. In chapter 10, we shall then attempt a more general evaluation of the experience gained so far.
