Between Integration Provision and Selection Mechanism. Party Politics, Judicial Constraints, and the Making of French and Dutch Policies of Civic Integration Abroad

Abstract

AbstractBoth the Netherlands and France have recently introduced civic integration abroad policies, which stipulate that family migrants are to learn about the language and customs of the host society, before being admitted to the country. The Dutch program however is much more stringent than the French. While France requires only participation in an evaluation and course that are organised and financed by the French state, the Dutch government has made entry conditional upon passing a test and does not offer courses. In this article, I propose two explanations for the significant differences between the modalities of the Dutch and French civic integration abroad programs. The first is related to party politics, that is to the positions adopted by political parties and the relations between them; the second to the different judicial constraints that weigh upon family migration policies in France and in the Netherlands.