Citizenship begins at home
Why do foreign residents claim citizenship of their new homeland? The question is acute in Germany, where a reform of citizenship law in the year 2000 was expected to increase the numbers applying. In fact, the naturalization rate fell and has not recovered. I argue that this is because the reform interfered with the family-level logic of the decision over citizenship. Family members often prefer to become citizens together, and parents are especially keen to naturalizewith their children. In Germany, the introduction of a limited form of birthright citizenship removed a key reason for many parents to apply, and new tests of individual integration are having perverse collective effects. Although most foreign residents meet the criteria, many live with someone who doesn’t, and the prospect of leaving this person out often discourages the entire family from applying.
The dissertation draws on around 100 interviews conducted in Germany and Austria. The interviews reveal that citizenship is valued more highly when shared with close family members. I also make innovative use of census data to show that the citizenship status of others in the household is the single strongest predictor of the likelihood of having naturalized. New citizens commonly apply at the same time, providing strong evidence for the collective logic of the decision.