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The Multiculturalism Policy Index [MCP] is a scholarly research project that monitors the evolution of multiculturalism policies in 21 Western democracies. The project is designed to provide information about multiculturalism policies in a standardized format that aids comparative research and contributes to the understanding of state-minority relations. The Index and supporting documentation are freely available for researchers, public officials, journalists, students, activists, and others interested in the topic.

The MCP project provides an index for each of three types of minorities: one index relating to immigrant groups,; one relating to historic national minorities; and one relating to indigenous peoples.  The index for immigrant minorities is now available on annual basis, with scores for each MCP policy in each country from 1960 to 2020.

Mapping the Index: The findings of our Multiculturalism Policy Index reveal a number of interesting developments. For example, despite the perception of a backlash and retreat from immigrant multiculturalism, the evidence suggests that multiculturalism policies have persisted, and in many cases, continue to expand. The two maps below show the strength of immigration multiculturalism policies in twenty-one countries in 1980 and 2020, revealing a clear trend towards stronger MCPs over that 40 year period. The two graphs below show that this trend is related to the size of the foreign-born population: in general, those countries with the largest growth in the size of immigrant minorities from 1980 to 2020 are also those countries which have strengthened their MCPs. See these trends in greater detail in the graphs and maps for five decades: 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010, 2020

 

Graphs Tracking Immigrant Multiculturalism Policies 1980 and 2020

Immigrant Multiculturalism Policies
by size of foreign-born population, 1980

Multiculturalism Policies in 1980 Graph format

 

Immigrant Multiculturalism Policies
by size of foreign-born population, 2020

Multiculturalism Policies in 1990 Graph format

 

Maps Tracking Immigrant Multiculturalism Policies 1980 and 2020

Mapping the strength of multiculturalism policies:
21 countries, 1980

Map depicting the strength of Multiculturalism Policies in 21 countries from 1980

 

Mapping the strength of multiculturalism policies:
21 countries, 2020

Map depicting the strength of Multiculturalism Policies in 21 countries from 2020