We Are All “Republican” Now

Abstract

The reform of the German citizenship law in 1999 presents both a veritable puzzle and a significant challenge to those who have a civic or republican understanding of nationhood as the liberal-democratic solution to immigrant membership. On the one hand, the German law opens the way for the introduction of a strong ius soli element (acquired by place of birth) and more tolerant naturalization; on the other hand, it remains restrictive in terms of dual citizenship (cf. Figure 5.1). Indeed, the principle of descent-based ius sanguinis is now complemented by ius soli: children born in Germany of at least one parent who has resided in Germany for six years can now acquire German citizenship in addition to their parents’ nationality; further, as-of-right naturalization can be obtained after only eight years rather than fifteen, as was previously the case. Still, even though there are now more exceptions, dual citizenship is not accepted as a rule. Interestingly, a compromise on ius soli and dual citizenship between the contending political parties was possible by reverting to a principle applied mostly in the nineteenth century: the compulsory option principle. This principle dictates that the person who receives German citizenship under the new law by ius soli must at maturity choose one citizenship only. In sum, there is a very glaring disjunction: Germany (along with the UK, Ireland, and Portugal) now has the most liberal ius soli regulation in Europe, but (along with Austria, Denmark, and Iceland) remains among the most restrictive countries—at least legally— regarding dual citizenship.KeywordsAsylum SeekerImmigration PolicyPolitical CommunityGerman CitizenshipDual CitizenshipThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.