ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the factors facilitating the constitutional reform of Germany's asylum policy. It argues why earlier attempts to change the right to asylum were not feasible. The chapter describes the reform process and the role crisis played in this process. It addresses what happened to the barriers that previously barred reform and which factors facilitated this reform process. Since the 1970s and especially the 1980s, the continuously expanding numbers of asylum seekers resulted in increasing societal and political pressure on Germany's generous asylum policy. The Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union claimed that a reduction in the number of asylum seekers could only be achieved if the right to asylum was restricted—which required a change in the constitution. Numerous constraints were exacerbated by cultural factors, most notably the policy inheritance of Germany's Nazi past, resulting in vested interests with regards to refugees and asylum policy.
