Purely Symbolic Policy or a Basis for Effective Participation? The Integration Laws of the Länder (January 2017 – October 2017)

Since 2010, Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia, Baden-Württemberg and finally Bavaria have each passed legislation on integration at the federal state level (Land level). In other Länder, legislation of this kind has been called for, announced or discussed. The contents of the individual laws are different, but what many of them have in common is that they establish institutions and processes to formulate and implement integration policy at Land and municipal level. This includes regulations on integration commissioners and advisory councils as well as cooperation and coordination structures between Land and municipalities, participation opportunities for people with a migration background as well as guidelines for government authorities.

The research project analysed and compared the existing laws and aimed to answer the question of whether integration laws are a useful instrument to more effectively manage integration and participation policy.

The project was funded by the Stiftung Mercator. The results were published as a Policy Brief in October 2017.

Publications

Summary

Paper Tigers or Milestones? A Comparison of the Integration Acts of the Bundesländer