Citizenship in Good Times and Bad: Explaining Variation in Naturalization Rates Among the German Länder

Naturalization rates vary widely across Western European countries and over time. They also vary within countries. Who naturalizes, and under what conditions? Previous work on the topic of naturalization often locates explanations at either the individual or national level, exploring the effects of the characteristics of immigrants or of certain institutions. Less attention has been given to the interaction between the two, particularly when operating at a subnational level. This paper reveals how variation in naturalization rates in Europe is often an outcome of the local political and economic contexts structuring immigrant life and the incentives that they create for immigrant naturalization decisions.

In particular, I present a theory that links local economic conditions and local political context to variation in naturalization rates. The theory offers several interesting hypotheses about how the relative favorability of immigrants’ economic and political settings shapes their naturalization decisions. I demonstrate the empirical feasibility of my argument using a within-case analysis of naturalization rates across German Länder over the last two decades, and I supplement my findings with qualitative evidence gleaned from interviews with immigrants in Germany. Finally, I argue that one effect of Germany’s citizenship law in 2000 has been to introduce greater local discretion over naturalization conferrals, leading to greater variation in naturalization trends across Länder over time.