RESEARCH ARTICLE / ÉTUDE ORIGINALE Following the Right: Left and Right Parties’ Influence over Multiculturalism Daniel Westlake* Department of Political Studies, Queen’s University, Room C321, Mackintosh-Corry Hall, 68 University Ave., Kingston, ON K7L 3N6 *Email: d.westlake@queensu.ca Abstract Debates over multiculturalism are increasingly partisan. The rise of the far right is forcing centre-right parties into difficult decisions over how to hold on to nationalist voters while appealing to moderates. Left parties face similar dilemmas when balancing the pressures of pro-multicultural voters against those opposed to immigration. What do these debates mean for the future of multiculturalism? Using a new, annualized version of the Multiculturalism Policy Index, this article argues that partisan consensus is important to the development of multiculturalism. It demonstrates that support from centre-right parties plays a key role in the adoption of multiculturalism policies. Résumé Les débats sur le multiculturalisme sont de plus en plus partisans. La montée de l’extrême droite oblige les partis de centre-droit à prendre des décisions difficiles sur la manière de fidéliser les électeurs nationalistes tout en faisant appel aux modérés. Les partis de gauche font face à des dilemmes similaires lorsqu’ils doivent concilier les pressions des électeurs favorables au multiculturalisme et celles des opposants à l’immigration. Que signifient ces débats pour l’avenir du multiculturalisme ? À l’aide d’une nouvelle version annualisée du Multiculturalism Policy Index, le présent article soutient que le consensus partisan est important pour le développement du multiculturalisme. Il démontre que l’appui des partis de centre-droit joue un rôle clé dans le processus de l’adoption de politiques en matière de multiculturalisme. Keywords: multiculturalism; political parties; immigration Introduction Multiculturalism is becoming a partisan issue. Both left and right parties face increas- ing pressures to both support and oppose multiculturalism. The emergence of far- right parties such as the French National Rally and the UK Independence Party has pushed centre-right, and to a lesser extent centre-left, parties to oppose multi- culturalism. At the same time, increasingly diverse electorates create an incentive to support multiculturalism. What does this mean for the future of multiculturalism? © Canadian Political Science Association (l’Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 2020 Canadian Journal of Political Science (2020), 53, 171–188 doi:10.1017/S0008423919001021 of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0008423919001021 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 194.93.39.66, on 15 Apr 2020 at 15:31:06, subject to the Cambridge Core terms