The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) is the central executive authority on migration and integration policy in Germany. Vinzenz Kratzer analyses the Federal Office's research output between 2005 and 2015 with a joint perspective of Ethnography and Political Science. In the wake of political reforms after the »paradigm change« around the turn of the millennium, the development of practically relevant knowledge can be traced. While governmental researchers were able to establish themselves in the bureaucracy with some success, they bought this influence with uncontroversial, depoliticized knowledge production, while the production of seemingly politically irrelevant knowledge - most importantly on racism and discrimination - is underdeveloped.

German migration policy now stands at a major crossroad, caught between a fifty-year history of missed opportunities and serious new challenges. Focusing on these new challenges that German policy makers face, the authors, both internationally recognized in this field, use historical argument, theoretical analysis, and empirical evaluation to advance a more nuanced understanding of recent initiatives and the implications of these initiatives. Their approach combines both synthesis and original research in a presentation that is not only accessible to the general educated reader but also addresses the concerns of academic scholars and policy analysts. This important volume offers a comprehensive and critical examination of the history of German migration law and policy from the Federal Republic's inception in 1949 to the present.

International migration is one of the most controversial political topics today which demands innovative approaches of global and regional governance. The book provides a fresh theoretical framework to understand European responses to the international migration of people and explains the dynamics of Germany’s migration and refugee policy during the last two decades. Against traditional theories and their inherent focus on the national political sphere, the book highlights supranational and multi-level political processes as increasingly important factors to account for national policy changes. Confronted with the most recent developments of international migration, the study offers students and practitioners the necessary background to participate in today’s debates.

What is the use of research in public debates and policy-making on immigration and integration? Why are there such large gaps between migration debates and migration realities, and how can they be reduced? Bridging the Gaps: Linking Research to Public Debates and Policy Making on Migration and Integration provides a unique set of testimonies and analyses of these questions by researchers and policy experts who have been deeply involved in attempts to link social science research to public policies. Bridging the Gaps argues that we must go beyond the prevailing focus on the research-policy nexus by considering how the media, public opinion, and other dimensions of public debates can interact with research and policy-processes. The chapters provide theoretical analyses and personal assessments of the successes and failures of past efforts to link research to public debates and policy-making on migration and integration in six different countries - Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States - as well as in European and global governance debates. Contrary to common public perceptions and political demands, Bridging the Gaps argues that all actors contributing to research, public debates, and policy-making should recognize that migration, integration, and related decision-making are highly complex issues, and that there are no quick fixes to what are often enduring policy dilemmas. When the different actors understand and appreciate each other's primary aims and constraints, such common understandings can pave the way for improved policy-making processes and better public policies that deal more effectively with the real challenges of migration and integration.

Many governments face similar pressures surrounding the hotly debated topic of immigration. Yet, the disparate ways in which policy makers respond is striking. The Comparative Politics of Immigration explains why democratic governments adopt the immigration policies they do. Through an in-depth study of immigration politics in Germany, Canada, Switzerland, and the United States, Antje Ellermann examines the development of immigration policy from the postwar era to the present. The book presents a new theory of immigration policymaking grounded in the political insulation of policy makers. Three types of insulation shape the translation of immigration preference into policy: popular insulation from demands of the unorganized public, interest group insulation from the claims of organized lobbies, and diplomatic insulation from the lobbying of immigrant-sending states. Addressing the nuances in immigration reforms, Ellermann analyzes both institutional factors and policy actors' strategic decisions to account for cross-national and temporal variation.

This book examines the history of German immigration policy. It analyzes the country's future demand for immigration. Coverage develops an economic model for the effective selection and integration of labor migrants that could provide the foundation for a joint European immigration strategy.

Laura Block asks how liberal democracies manage to restrict migration in spite of liberal constraints. She analyses the political debates surrounding spousal migration policies from 2005–2010 in Germany and reveals government strategies that restrict spousal migration while staying within the discursive realm of individual rights. By circumscribing and scrutinising both the membership status necessary to access the right to family protection and the family ties in question, restricting spousal migration is legitimised.