Intention to become a citizen: do subnational integration policies have an influence? Empirical evidence from Swiss cantons

ABSTRACT

Little is known about the outcomes of integration policies on immigrants, and even less so at the subnational level. This paper scrutinizes immigrants’ responses to regional integration policies, focusing on their naturalization intentions. Multilevel analyses of Swiss cantons’ integration policy indices and a survey of immigrants indicate that inclusive integration policies are positively associated with European Union/European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA) nationals’ naturalization intentions and amplify time’s positive effect on the same outcome for immigrants from less-developed countries. The findings contribute to the territorial politics literature, with their focus on subnational policies, and to the citizenship literature, given the importance of integration policies in the naturalization process.

KEYWORDS:

• integration policies
• subnational comparison
• citizenship
• Switzerland

JEL:

• C00
• R23
• Z18

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Throughout, the terms ‘immigrants’ and ‘non-citizens’ are used interchangeably because the survey data only contain individuals who have immigrated to Switzerland and do not hold Swiss citizenship.

2. Throughout, the terms ‘liberal’ and ‘inclusive’ are used interchangeably where integration and citizenship policies are concerned.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the nccr – on the move funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation [grant number 51NF40-182897].