Political demography: Powerful trends under-attended by demographic science

Abstract

The interconnections between politics and the dramatic demographic changes under way around the world have been neglected by the two research disciplines that could contribute most to their understanding: demography and political science. Instead, this area of ‘political demography’ has largely been ceded to political activists, pundits, and journalists, leading often to exaggerated or garbled interpretation. The terrain includes some of the most politically sensitive and contested issues: alleged demographically determined shifts in the international balance of power; low fertility, population decline, and demographic ageing; international migration; change in national identity; and compositional shifts in politically sensitive social categories and human rights. Meanwhile many governments and non-governmental actors have actively pursued varieties of ‘strategic demography’, deploying fertility, mortality, or migration as instruments of domestic or international policy. Political scientists and demographers could and should use their knowledge and analytic techniques to improve understanding and to moderate excessive claims and fears on these topics.

Keywords:

• political demography
• fertility
• mortality
• immigration
• emigration
• population ageing
• national identity
• population composition
• strategic demography
• human rights

Notes

1 Michael S. Teitelbaum is Senior Research Associate, Labor and Worklife Program, Harvard Law School, 125 Mt. Auburn Street, 3rd Floor, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. E-mail: [email protected]