JUAN CARLOS VELASCO Instituto de Filosofía CSIC Madrid, Spain jc.velasco@csic.es Conference Border Transgressions Universität Bonn 8th May 2014
Two instruments of integration Two orders of priorities a) The priority of the citizenship b) The priority of the right to vote Relevance of recognition as political agent: The chief difference between slave labor and modern, free labor is not that the laborer possesses personal freedom freedom of movement, economic activity, and personal inviolability but that he is admitted to the political realm and fully emancipated as a citizen. (H. Arendt, The Human Condition). Juan Carlos Velasco, 2014
The best case All settled residents who see their future in the country get full support to become citizens and equally participate in public life. All citizens can be dual nationals (MIPEX III, p. 22).
2.1 Access to citizenship in Germany Legal reforms: 1990, 2000, and 2005 8 (or 7) years of residence to start the naturalization process No dual citizenship for non EU-citizens Ius soli, but Optionsmodell End of ethnic model of citizenship: des-ethnicization?
2.2 Access to citizenship in Spain The access to citizenship is a individual right, a legal protected right A dual system - General regime: 10 years of legal residence - Exceptional regime (Ibero-America countries, Portugal, Andorra, Philippines, Equatorial Guinea and sephardi Jews): 2 years of legal residence - Others exceptions Discriminatory effects over the other immigrants groups
3.1 Right to vote in Germany No voting rights for immigrants (only for the EUcitizens) Individual political liberties Immigrants are consulted by municipalities and Länder
3.2 Right to vote in Spain Constitutional permission for the voting rights of the immigrants But requirement of reciprocity deal with the countries of origin (art. 13.2 Spanish Constitution of 1978) Until 2011: agreements with Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, New Zealand, Iceland, Cape Verde and others But not with Morocco, Algeria, China, Senegal, Brazil New discrimination factor
Reasons for exclusion Citizenship as a further border A question of global justice Juan Carlos Velasco, 2014
Countries that are more apt to grant voting rights to immigrants with legal residency also tend to be more flexible in granting citizenship to such individuals and viceversa. This observation is not surprising in so far as there are normative as well as functional nexuses between both measures so that the arguments for one and the other overlap. From a democratic perspective, two different positions with regard to this issue can be distinguished. The first one holds that priority should be given to facilitating the access to nationality while the question of political rights for foreign residents could be treated as secondary. The second position, in contrast, is based on the idea that the claim for political rights has its own worth and legitimation, and that they should be guaranteed for all people actually living in a society, regardless of their nationality. Germany and Spain, in their respective manner, have each chosen one of these two options. They have done it, however, inconsistently, so that neither exclusions nor discriminations have disappeared. Certainly, they are not the only countries that proceed this way, but there are good justice related reasons to improve this state of affairs. Juan Carlos Velasco, 2014
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