ABSTRACT

Migration and loss of control stood at the origins of the new Germany. The East Germans fled an oppressive regime and brought it down in a dialectical process of exit, voice, and disloyalty. Free immigration for ethnic Germans from the communist bloc had formed another part of the post war immigration system. A consistent control policy is hampered by the mistrust against anything reminiscent of an authoritarian state. Checks and balances are the essence of the German 'semi-sovereign state'. Every administrative decision and each law is subject to judicial controls, leading to an extremely legalistic political style. The German national identity problem has also hampered the naturalization of foreigners, making it difficult to realize that citizenship could be an asset for immigrants. The Free Democrats can look back at a respectable tradition of enlightened immigration policies, personalized in the Auslanderbeauftragte, an office that has long been held by a member of their parliamentary party.