Pole A: Assimilation score 0
One common civic culture for everyone. Common argument for it: shared language and norms make trust, social mobility and cohesion easier.
POLITICAL POSITION · DIMENSION 4 OF 12
Immigration: assimilation or multiculturalism
Immigration is the dimension that records what a person expects from the relationship between newcomers and the culture of those already in the country.
What it is
Immigration is the dimension that records what a person expects from the relationship between newcomers and the culture of those already in the country. At the Assimilation pole, immigrants should adopt the language, customs and norms of the destination country; at the Multiculturalism pole, cultures of origin remain, and the State recognizes and accommodates that diversity.
What the dimension covers
- language and schooling for newcomers
- cultural symbols and practices in public space
- integration policies
- recognition of communities of foreign origin
The two poles
0 · AssimilationMulticulturalism · 100
Pole B: Multiculturalism score 100
Belonging to the country without giving up one's origin. Common argument for it: diversity is part of society, and the State treats people better when it recognizes it.
How the instrument measures it
The Evidence instrument (schema evidence-pol-1) records this dimension as a number from 0 to 100: 0 is the Assimilation pole, 100 is the Multiculturalism pole. The number comes from your answers to the questionnaire or from a result imported from another instrument by URL; either way it is a self-assessment, computed in your browser, and nothing reaches the server without an explicit action from you. With no answer for this dimension, it stays unknown (UNKNOWN), never 50.
| No. | Statement | Agreeing points to |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | People who move to the country should adopt the local language and customs in public life. | Assimilation |
| 16 | Many cultures living side by side, each keeping its own traditions, makes the country stronger. | Multiculturalism |
| 28 | Citizenship should depend on a test of the country's history, language and institutions. | Assimilation |
| 40 | Public schools should offer classes in the native language of large immigrant communities. | Multiculturalism |
Formula p = (resposta - 1) / 4 if agreeing points to Multiculturalism; p = 1 - (resposta - 1) / 4 if it points to Assimilation; placar = 100 * media(p)
There are 4 original statements, with opposite directions to reduce the effect of agreeing with everything. Answers run from 1 to 5 (1 Strongly disagree, 2 Disagree, 3 Neither agree nor disagree, 4 Agree, 5 Strongly agree); "Don't know" does not score. Each answer becomes a position between 0 and 1, the score is the mean position times 100, and confidence combines coverage (how many of the 4 statements scored) and consistency (how far answers point the same way): high from 0.75, medium from 0.50.
In the Evidence portable format, this dimension is the immigration parameter of the profile URL. Scale, evidence states and limitations are in the instrument method; the terms are in the glossary.
Why it is a separate dimension
It differs from Social norms, which is about moral values in general; the question here is how newcomers integrate. It differs from Foreign intervention and Foreign trade, which are about relations with other States, not with people who migrate.
Compare with Social norms and Foreign intervention.
Frequently asked questions
Does the dimension measure whether a person is for or against immigration?
No. It records the preferred model of integration, not the volume of entry. Someone can support high immigration with assimilation, or low immigration with multiculturalism.
Why does this dimension matter in Brazil?
Brazil both receives and sends migrants, and its Migration Law (Law 13,445/2017) covers the rights and integration of newcomers. The dimension records the respondent's preference; it does not assess the law.
What does a score of 50 on Immigration mean?
That the answers ended halfway between Assimilation and Multiculturalism, through balance or through a mix of answers in both directions. It is not the same as moderation or the political center, and it says nothing about the other 11 dimensions.
Is my result sent or published?
No. The computation runs in your browser, nothing reaches the server without an explicit action from you, and the result page is not indexed by search engines. Political opinion is sensitive personal data under Brazil's LGPD (art. 5, II, and art. 11).
Literature and references
- MulticulturalismStanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: arguments on recognizing and accommodating cultural minorities.
- ImmigrationStanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: ethics of admitting and integrating immigrants.
- Multiculturalism Policy Index (Queen's University)Comparative index of multiculturalism policies by country and decade.
- Brazilian Migration Law, Law 13,445/2017 (Portuguese)Rights and duties of migrants and visitors in Brazil.
Reference readings on the topic. None of them validates the Evidence instrument, and no text, question or weight was copied from them.
Conceptual sources of the instrument
What is expected of newcomers: adopting the destination culture (assimilation) or cultures living side by side with public recognition (multiculturalism).
Other dimensions
- Related dimensionSocial normsProgressive · Traditionalist
- Related dimensionForeign interventionNon-interventionist · Nationalist
- PreviousState powerSecurity · Liberty
- NextDiplomacyMilitarist · Pacifist