Het minderhedenvraagstuk en de partijkeuze in 1994

Data from the Dutch National Elections Study 1994 (DNES 1994) revealed that 51% o f the electorate considered minorities to be one of the major national problems. This result was remarkable, because most of the bigger political parties did not bring this issue up in the election campaign. Only the leader of the classic liberals (VVD), Bolkestein, appealed for a more restrictive policy regarding political refugees and asylum seekers. We examined the effect of four aspects o f the minority issue on party choice, by controlling for 13 other variables e.g. background characteristics, value orientations and the popularity of candidates. Results show that the chance for voting for the VVD decreased the more a voter subscribed to a full stop of foreign workers and asylum seekers. A relationship between party choice and the opinions regarding political refugees was not found. Two other aspects, opinions towards affirmative action and the adjustment of minorities to Dutch culture, were in line with our expectations on party choice.