Replication Data for: The Use of the Abuse Policy Narrative in Asylum Debates and its Effects on Citizens’ Opinion Formation

Asylum seekers are often portrayed as “bogus refugees” who try to abuse a destination country’s generosity and protection. We scrutinize the use and effect of such an abuse policy narrative in Swiss asylum referendums by examining the conveyance of this narrative by political elite actors (meso level) and its effect on citizens’ opinion formation (micro level). On the meso level, our analysis shows that political organizations rely more strongly on the abuse policy narrative (1) if a referendum proposal contains more tightening as opposed to streamlining policies and (2) if their political ideology is more to the right. Whereas the first finding also applies at the micro level, voters from both the right and the center are more likely to base their decision on the abuse policy narrative. This result is of importance as centrist voters usually play a decisive role in the outcome of asylum referendums.