Explaining Convergence and Divergence of National Citizenship Legislation: A Comparative Analysis of Parliamentary Debates

Abstract

The previous chapter analysed how the German, Hungarian and Polish national citizenship laws changed between the late 1980s and 2007. Contrary to the popular ‘liberal convergence’ thesis, national citizenship legislation of these countries has not, in general, become more liberal. Rather, it has been established that the legislation regulating migrants’ naturalizations became more similar but not more liberal. On the other hand, citizenship laws dealing with external Diasporas abroad (cultural acquisitions) have diverged; namely, they became more ethnic in Poland and Hungary and less ethnic in Germany. The goal of this chapter is, therefore, to explain why citizenship legislation developed in these particular directions. In order to answer this question, the chapter analyses parliamentary (plenary) debates in Germany, Hungary and Poland.