Legitimizing Portuguese Immigration Policies: Policy Learning, Problem Tractability, and Actor Certification
Legitimizing Portuguese Immigration Policies: Policy Learning, Problem Tractability, and Actor Certification

Summary/Abstract: Portuguese immigration and integration policies are undergoing significant transformation. However, there is a notable gap in the literature regarding the historical evolution of Portuguese immigration and integration policies. This study examines Portuguese immigration and integration policies using policy learning theories and discursive legitimation strategies. Building on an examination of the changes and advancements in contemporary Portuguese immigration and integration policies, the study addresses the subsequent research question: how can one contend that the Portuguese immigration and integration policies have, between 1996 and 2023, supported a bargaining approach to policy learning reinforced by discursive legitimation strategies based on moral evaluation and rationalization? The goal is to explore the questions of problem tractability, actor certification, and discursive legitimation strategies to discuss the policy learning environment where, between 1996 and 2023, Portuguese immigration and integration policies were decided. The study argues that, between 1996 and 2023, policy learning within the domain of Portuguese immigration and integration policies occurred through a triple process of maintaining a high level of problem tractability associated with managing immigration flows, decreasing the certification of actors who were allowed to participate in the policy-making process, and employing discursive legitimation strategies based on moral evaluation and rationalization. From 2024 onwards, all three elements have suffered a process of erosion, which significantly transformed the decision-making framework of Portuguese immigration and integration policies.

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