Subnational principals and Turkish passports : administrative inequality in German citizenship policy

Abstract

This article analyses inequalities in the implementation of citizenship policy in Germany. In this key migrant destination, federal authorities decide on citizenship law but delegate its implementation to regional and local governments. Before a reform of 2024, national regulation required third-country nationals to renounce their prior citizenship upon naturalisation. However, frontline officials could exempt applicants from this requirement. Mapping the share of Turks who gained German citizenship yet were able to keep their Turkish passports, we reveal considerable variation across and within German states. We develop a principal-agent framework and argue that the political preferences of regional and local electorates and governments are primary drivers of administrative inequality in naturalisation decision-making. Longitudinal models covering the period between 2000 and 2021 partially support this conjecture, demonstrating that the strength of conservative and far-right parties at the county level is associated with more restrictive decisions on dual citizenship. The analysis also shows that counties with small and large shares of foreign nationals have more liberal naturalisation practices than counties with intermediate shares.