Collection consists of research, scholarship and publications by faculty and graduate students affiliated with the School of Public Policy and Administration.
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Browsing Research and publications by Subject "immigration, federalism, Germany"
What challenges and opportunities has federalism held for countries like
Germany, one of Europe’s most ‘reluctant’ states of immigration? Although the
formal, constitutional division of powers between the German central government
(Bund) and the federal states (Länder) has certainly shaped Germany’s response to
immigration and integration, federalism is only one aspect of a broader, ‘semisovereign’
model of governance that has dominated German state-society relations for
decades (Katzenstein 1987). This model sees a range of decentralized state actors,
among them constantly negotiating with a set of highly centralized societal (or
“parapublic”) organizations, such as churches, labour and employer associations,
leading to at best incremental policy change over the years. While some observers
argue that this model will endure and likely also impair Germany’s ability to
successfully navigate future immigration and integration challenges (Green and
Paterson 2005), others argue that German political actors have been quite successful
all along in shifting “venues” to suit their policy preferences, be that “up” (to
the intergovernmental/EU level), “down” (to the local level) or “out” (to non-state
actors) (Guiraudon and Lahav 2000). The chapter will argue that Germany’s particular
version of immigration federalism has facilitated both incrementalism and
venue shifting.