Bragin A. How can migrants influence democracy in their countries of origin? Case study: CIS countries of Central Asia. Central Asia and the Caucasus, 2020, Vol. 21, Issue 2, pp. 131-141.

Abstract

This article investigates both migrant remittances and return migration as the possible factors for democratic demand occurrence in donor countries. We believe that one of the main elements of democracy emergence is the political structure and economic advantages of the recipient country. It is justified that if a migrant moves to a well-established democratic state his satisfaction with how all the institutions work increases. Thus, most of the migrants might be dissatisfied with the effectiveness of their home countries’ political management, but can they really influence democracy demand and does this process depend on the quality of the recipient country? In this connection, we argue that migrants can shape political atmosphere in their home country via the scope of effects they produce by their remittances and social interaction. As an example, we analyze migration from CIS countries of Central Asia. After the revision of theoretical framework and analysis of empirical data taken from the World Bank, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and V-Dem data version 9.0, we came to the conclusion that both migrant remittances and return migration can have an impact on democracy occurrence and thus are able to give impetus to democratic movements. However, the quality of a recipient country and domestic situation in a donor country play a determinant role in this process.

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