1 Immigration waves, public moods, and policy responses: A comparative analysis of seven European countries. 1 Laura Morales (University of Leicester), Didier Ruedin (University of Neuchâtel), Jean-Benoit Pilet (ULB), Daniel Wunderlich (University of Bath), Teresa Peintinger (University of Vienna), Virginia Ros (University of Leicester), and Guido Vangoidsenhoven (ULB) Paper presented at the International Studies Association Annual Convention San Diego, 1-4 April 2012 (1 st draft of work in progress, please do not cite or share without permission) Abstract: Recent scholarship has documented an increase in the restrictive views that the public holds around immigration and the integration of immigrants in receiving European societies. In parallel, a growing body of research shows a certain convergence of the rhetoric and policy positions of political parties and elites towards more restrictive stances. There is, however, little work that focuses on the interrelations between immigration flows, public opinion moods, and policy responses. This paper is a first attempt at examining this relationship empirically, using fresh data from an ongoing EU-funded project (Support and Opposition to Migration: http://www.som-project.eu). With longitudinal data from seven receiving societies in Europe (Austria, Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom), the paper will analyse to what extent differences in policymaking and the public mood respond to real inflows of immigrants, and to what extent policy responses are a result of the latter two. 1 The research leading to these results was carried out as part of the project SOM (Support and Opposition to Migration). The project has received funding from the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 225522.