Democracy and the Nation State: Aliens, Denizens, and Citizens in a World of International Migration (Research in Ethnic Relations Series)

First Published in 2016. In this book starts with the discussion located at the crossroads between two basic political principles. The first one is the democratic idea of representative government, based on elections by general suffrage. The second is the nation-state principle which says that the world is divided into sovereign states and that only those who are citizens can claim a right to take part in political life, in other words that foreign citizens are not allowed to participate in political elections. Democracy is honoured almost everywhere, at least as a principle, but the modern system of states presupposes that as a general rule only those who are citizens are entitled to vote, to stand for election, to join parties, and to participate in political debate and give voice to their political demands and interests. Both these basic political principles are young, and their pre sent confrontation is therefore also new to us. Cover Half Title Title Copyright Contents Introduction: Democracy versus the Nation State PART 1 International Migration and Nationalism 1 Three Entrance Gates into the New Country Regulation of immigration The status as denizen Populations of foreign residents and of denizens The three gates 2 Membership of State and Nation Citizenship and political rights Citizenship as membership of the state An obligatory membership External and internal state-membership Membership of societal subsystems Membership of a nation Citizenship in the future 3 The Emergence of a Modern Citizenship Historical periods in international migration Citizenship in the 19th century Religion and citizenship The development of citizens' rights Economic liberalism and political nationalism 4 Nationalism and the Industrial Revolution Nationalism and democracy The origins of nationalism The industrial revolution and general education Nationalism and citizenship PART 2 National Identity and Dual Citizenship 5 Citizenship in Europe Today Attribution at birth Adult acquisition Comparison of some countries' citizenship policy Classification according to form of government 6 Propensity to Apply for Naturalisation Low interest in the Federal Republic of Germany Indifference also in Australia and the United States Interest in naturalisation by citizenship An organizing scheme A cost and benefit analysis 7 Dual Citizenship Why a substantial increase in numbers? Acquisition of a second citizenship Inconvenience caused by dual citizenship Some advantages of dual citizenship A Council of Europe expert committee The Swedish commission on citizenship PART 3 Political Rights and Political Participation 8 Political Rights for Denizens 1945-1987 International law Extension of political rights in the FRG and in Sweden Political participation without political rights Consultation 9 Political Interest and Participation Low political interest Political resocialization of immigrants Election systems and turnout rates Immigrant elections and political participation in Sweden Electoral turnout by citizenship Turnout, social status and country of origin Women's participation Concluding evaluation 10 Voting Rights for Denizens Obstacles to electoral reform Constitutional obstacles to a reform Evaluations of the first elections Voting rights also in national elections PART 4 Concluding and Normative Discussion 11 Two Models Based on Domicile Residence and domicile The naturalisation model The voting rights model The two models, compared and combined 12 Denizens and Political Rights Nationalism The large number of denizens Voting rights for denizens Naturalisation and citizenship Dual citizenship Conclusions Bibliography This book addresses a contemporary problem that is at the crossroads between two basic political principles. The first one is the idea of representative government based on elections by general suffrage. The second is the sovereignty of the nation-state which says that the world is divided into sovereign states and that only those who are citizens can claim to take part in the political life of a particular nation-state. Mr Hammar, Director of the Centre for Research in International Migration and Ethnic Relations at Stockholm University, argues that increased immigration during the second half of the 20th century has challenged the nation-state and the democratic system as the distinction between formal and substantial citizenship has become blurred. The book, based on a series of articles and reports on this subject written during the last ten years, is divided into four parts. The first part deals with international migration and nationalism. Attention is focused on how immigrants enter a new country and the importance of citizenship as obligatory membership in a state. Included is a short history of citizenship, its emergence during the 19th century, and the relationship between industrialization on the one hand and nationalism and the idea of the nation-state on the other. The second part discusses citizenship, naturalization, and the advantages of dual citizenship. The third part of the book focuses on the increasing activity of foreign citizens in politics and the extent to which they have actually taken part in political elections in countries where they have been allowed to do so. This third part is concluded with an evaluation of those electoral reforms mainly in Scandinavia and the Netherlands which have given voting rights to foreign citizens with three to five years of legal residence. In the final part, the author tries to resolve the lack of congruence between formal citizenship and informal membership resulting from long periods of residence. He discusses two alternative ways to overcome this lack of congruence: through increased naturalization or through an extension of political rights to those who have had their domicile in the country for a long time. First Published in 2016. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an Informa company.