Migration policies in the German Länder: A multi-dimensional analysis

Abstract

This paper examines (1) the extent to which migration policies vary at the subnational level in the Federal Republic of Germany and (2) how the policy variance between the German Länder can be explained. Going beyond existing work, we propose a multidimensional measurement concept that distinguishes six different dimensions of migration policy at the state level: (1) the type of accommodation, (2) the type of services provided, (3) health care, (4) admission practices, (5) deportation practices, and (6) state positioning in the context of “safe countries of origin”. Moreover, we analyze possible paths to explain the differences between the states, using a fuzzy-set QCA analysis and draw on a theoretical framework that combines party politics, socioeconomic context, and the attitudes of the population as conditions. Our results show that there are substantial differences between the federal states. We also find that the party political composition of the government in different paths is an important condition for the existence of restrictive or permissive migration policies. In not a single causal path of the fsQCA analysis is it possible to explain restrictive or permissive migration policy without taking party ideology into account—a result that clearly speaks for the high relevance of the party political composition of the government. In contrast, the attitudes of the population in each state, migration policy and socioeconomic conditions seem to play only a minor role.