Research Project S06

Paradigm Shift in the German Immigration Policy in the Years 1998-2004? Implications for Poland.

Project Manager: Monika Mazur-Rafał

The overall purpose of this project is to analyze the recent developments in the German immigration policy. Building on the general characteristic of the German policies towards foreigners and the institutional settings of the migration policy, the analysis focuses on the changes in the perception of immigration in Germany: How different is the new perception from the old one and why was this change possible? Further, the project aims at analyzing the changes in the German immigration law that occurred after the coalition consisting of the Social Democratic Party and the Green Party came to power. Were the changes deep enough to call them a paradigm shift?

The study covers the process of working out the proposals for a new German immigration policy by making an overview on positions of relevant actors involved in this process. Further, the analysis compares different proposals and draft laws on immigration with its final version, in order to find an answer, whether the changes introduced new principles into the German law. On the basis of German experience with reforming immigration laws the study entails recommendations for the migration policy making in Poland.

In the first stage of the project a review and analysis of relevant literature, documentation, and statistical data will be made in order to deliver an explanation, why the process of reforms was started. Subsequently, the process will be analyzed on the basis of documents and media coverage, with the aim to show the evolution in the positions of the actors, which was crucial for the outcome of the reforms. In the last stage the results of the process (draft laws on immigration) will be compared, to answer the question whether a real paradigm shift in the German immigration policy has happened.

The project is funded by Deutsche Bank Securities SA.