Thesis Submitted for Phd Analysing Immigration Control Policy
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Thesis submitted for PhD Analysing Immigration Control Policy — A Case Study Regarding the Amendment of Art. 16 (2) of the German Constitution Claudia Margarete Schneider London School of Economics and Political Science UMI Number: U228675 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U228675 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Uaa^y British Ltrar yOt PoUtCA andEconcmcSc&xx C / / c - ? 1 Abstract This thesis formulates a methodologically flexible approach for the study of immigration control policy which emphasises structure and agency and applies this approach to a case study of the amendment of Art. 16 (2) of the German constitution in May 1993. Although authors of immigration studies have increasingly acknowledged structures and actors since the 1990s only a few have analysed explicitly the theoretical and methodological implications of the structure-agency link in the context of immigration policy. It is therefore the aim of this thesis to evaluate existing approaches in the context of the structure-agency link and to formulate and apply a theoretical model for the study of immigration control policy which acknowledges the link between structure and agency. To fulfil a flexible investigation of social structures and social actors my theoretical model is combining a conceptual framework approach with analytical dualism and formulates three layers of analysis: (i) an analysis of the contrasts between an objective analysis of the wider environment and politicians’ perceptions of it, (ii) a study of the relationship between politicians and normative and interactive structures in the closer political party environment and (iii) an in-depth analysis of politicians’ justifications. The findings of my case study highlight that the structural context in the early 1990s was advantageous for a constitutional change in Germany. Supporters of the amendment made good use of this situation, while opponents failed actively to challenge the political context and, instead, worsened their already unfavourable position through their own actions. Further, a grounded theory analysis of politicians’ justifications found that supporters and opponents emphasised the same core themes: both stressed the existence of an asylum problem and the promotion of humanitarianism. However, a closer analysis revealed that supporters and opponents set these themes into different conceptual and causal contexts. For example, supporters defined humanitarianism in a (socially and geographically) limited context, while opponents reflected a less restrictive use of humanitarianism. The findings also highlight that developments in the wider environment such as increasing asylum applications, decreasing recognition rates, rises in xenophobic attacks and electoral successes of the far right were misconceived by politicians and created a moral panic with regard to national stability. This misconception was not only based on an exaggeration of the situation but also on incorrect explanations of developments in the wider environment. In conclusion, the thesis substantiates theoretically and empirically my claim that immigration policy needs to be analysed through a proper investigation of the interplay between agency and structure; neither structural accounts nor agency based analyses are sufficient to understand the making of immigration policy. 2 Contents Abstract 1 Acknowledgements 6 List of figures, tables and appendices 7 List of abbreviations 9 Chapter 1 Introduction 10 1.1 Objectives of the thesis in the light of existing studies of immigration policy and social theory 1.2 The amendment of Art. 16 (2) of the German constitution and its consequence for asylum policy in Germany 1.3 German asylum policy in a European context 1.3.1 Social and legal provisions for asylum seekers 1.3.2 The European harmonisation process 1.4 A chapter-by-chapter outline PART I THEORETICAL EVALUATION AND FORMULATION Chapter 2 An evaluation of existing approaches of immigration control 26 policy 2.1 Introduction 2.2 A brief overview of approaches of immigration control policy since the 1970s 2.3 Less flexible approaches 2.4 More flexible approaches 2.4.1 Approaches offering explicit theoretical discussions of structure and agency in the immigration context 2.4.2 The use of structure and agency in case studies of immigration policy 2.5 Summary Chapter 3 A theoretical and methodological framework for the study of 53 immigration control policy 3.1 Introduction 3.2 The conceptual framework in the context of sociological theory 3.3 Outlining the conceptual framework for the study of immigration control policy 3.3.1 The wider national and international environment 3.3.2 Politicians’ decision-making within the political party system 3.3.3 Politicians’ justification schemes 3.3.4 Overview and discussion of the conceptual framework 3.4 Analysing justifications via the grounded theory approach 3.4.1 Grounded theory in the context of other content analysis approaches 3 3.4.2 The application of grounded theory in existing research 3.4.3 The application of grounded theory in my case study 3.4.4 The coding procedures within grounded theory 3.5 Conclusion PART II THE AMENDMENT OF ARTICLE 16 (2) OF THE GERMAN CONSTITUTION Chapter 4 An analysis of the wider national and international 82 environment between 1991 and 1993 4.1 Introduction 4.2 The asylum movement in Germany between 1991 and 1993 and its representation in the political debate 4.3 Germany’s asylum experience in a European context 4.3.1 European harmonisation and its role in the political debate 4.4 Economic factors and their representation in the political debate 4.5 Social-political factors and their representation in the political debate and amongst the general public 4.5.1 Xenophobic violence 4.5.2 The far right 4.6 The media and their portrayal of the asylum issue 4.7 Public opinion on asylum 4.7.1 Methodological issues and problems regarding opinion polls 4.7.2 Findings 4.8 Conclusion Chapter 5 The closer political environment of the asylum debate 130 between 1991 and 1993 5.1 Introduction 5.2 The political structures at the beginning of 1991 5.3 The elaboration of structures between 1991 and 1993 5.3.1 The lead-up to the first party compromise on accelerating procedures in October 1991: an abundance of party positions and agendas 5.3.1.1 The Far Left 5.3.1.2 The SPD 5.3.1.3 The FDP 5.3.1.4 The CDU/CSU 5.3.1.5 Summary 5.3.2 The fast track to a compromise on changing Art. 16 (2) 5.3.2.1 The compromise on accelerating procedures 5.3.2.2 Bringing the change of Art. 16 (2) back on the agenda 5.3.2.3 The implementation of accelerating procedures: a U-turn for the SPD and the FDP, a farce for CDU/CSU 5.3.2.4 FDP and SPD leadership move towards a change of the constitution 4 5.3.2.5 Divisions within the SPD: the dispute over safe country lists 5.3.2.6 Parties finalise their ‘compromise’ on changing Art. 16 (2) 5.3.2.7 Last minute disagreements and final acceptance of the constitutional amendment 5.3.2.8 Summary 5.3.3 Conclusion Chapter 6 Politicians’ justification schemes 166 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Findings in the open coding phase 6.2.1 The coding framework 6.2.1.1 Goals 6.2.1.2 Normative principles 6.2.1.3 Perception of environment 6.2.2 The statistical findings 6.2.2.1 An overview of themes with regard to dominant/non-dominant application 6.2.2.2 The relationship between themes and voting behaviour 6.2.2.3 Changing justifications: contrasting the 1993 debate with a debate in 1991 6.3 Findings in axial coding 6.3.1 A summary of the semantic context of dominant themes 6.3.2 Political profiles in 1993 6.3.2.1 The Far Left 63.2.2 The SPD 63.23 The FDP 6.3.2.4 The CDU/CSU 6.3.3 A factor analysis for the 1993 debate 6.3.4 A contrast of political profiles in 1991 and 1993 6.3.5 Significant links between themes controlled by voting behaviour 6.4 Findings in selective coding and the formulation of a theory 6.5 A critical note on methodology 6.6 An evaluation of findings in the context of existing literature 6.7 Conclusion PART III CONCLUSION Chapter 7 A substantive theory for German asylum policy in the 246 early 1990s 7.1 Revisiting the obj ective of the thesis 7.2 The theoretical tools: a conceptual framework in conjunction with analytical dualism 7.3 Findings of the case study 7.3.1 Structure and agency in the context of the constitutional change 5 7.3.2 Detailed findings relating to the three layers of the conceptual framework 7.3.2.1 The first layer: moral panic? Politicians’ misconceptions of causal factors regarding developments in the wider environment 13.2.2 The second layer: opportunistic use of structural conditions by the CDU/CSU and missed opportunities and strategic naivete by the SPD and the FDP 13.23 The third layer: the ‘humanitarian face’ of politicians in the light of more restrictive asylum policy 1.4 Evaluating the findings in the context of existing literature 1.5 Recommendations for further research Appendix 285 Bibliography 327 6 Acknowledgements I would like to thank Chris Husbands for supporting me throughout the thesis.