This book addresses a topic that could not be more timely and salient. The recent wave of approximately 350,000 Syrian, Afghani, and Eritrean immigrants who are fleeing the violence and unrest in their homelands and heading to the European Union has caused a political and humanitarian crisis. Who should be responsible for these immigrants? Germany has led the way and is expected to accept the majority of the immigrants, followed by Italy, Greece, and Hungary. With no immediate end in sight of these migration flows, EU ministers have decided that member states must share the responsibility of taking in these immigrants.

Beyond this immediate concern, however, is another question that has long-term implications and consequences for the future of Western Europe: What types of state policies exist to facilitate the civic integration of these newcomers? This question gets to the heart of Immigration and Membership Politics in Western Europe, which presents a rigorous and systematic analysis of the various immigration policies implemented by the EU-15 in response to varying political and social contexts. In many of these states where political parties are shaped around an anti-immigrant discourse, why do some states adopt a more restrictive civic immigration policy whereas others do not? Sara Wallace Goodman’s main contention is that civic integration policies are created as part of different policy strategies to address “different problems of membership, defined by inherited citizenship policy and extant political preferences of the party in power that seeks to change or fortify these approaches. (p 6)” Goodman tests this argument using empirical analyses as well an in-depth case studies, where governments and citizenship contexts are either similar or different. What sets her work apart from the existing research is her focus on and interest in the causes of variation among civic integration policies, whereas the previous research has tended to focus its attention on the convergence of civic integration policies in Western Europe. This point of departure makes an important contribution not only to scholars studying immigration politics but also to those interested in the politics of belonging and membership, as well as legislative politics. As such, her research fills an important gap in these existing studies and paves the way for a whole host of future research inquiries.

Goodman’s first task is to establish the existence of variation in the civic integration policies across the EU-15. The author does so in the second chapter by introducing readers to the Civic Integration Policy Index (CIVIX). The coding scheme she develops for this index is based on the policies adopted by a state at three different stages for an immigrant—entry, settlement/permanent residence, and citizenship. A variety of requirements exists at each stage, ranging from language certification and civic tests to taking courses. She then calculates this index for the EU-15 at two different points in time, in 1997 (before the introduction of civic integration) and the again in 2013. What she finds is a great deal of variation in the civic integration policies adopted by states over these time periods, particularly in terms of the size or volume of change. She then demonstrates how this index is externally valid with other existing measures of civic integreation (e.g., MIPEX). By developing this index, Goodman has established important ways to systematically compare civic integration policies in Western Europe over space and time. Such an index could be easily applied to other regions in the world.

Establishing these variations in civic integration policies naturally leads one to ask the reasons for them. Goodman attributes these differences to two factors—citizenship legacy and the ideological orientation of the government. She stresses the importance of existing national citizenship policy as a significant constraint on the ability of the current government in power to drastically change civic integration policy. Here, she acknowledge the role that institutions play in the policymaking process, where in some cases it can lead to change, but oftentimes proves to be quite difficult. She also emphasizes how national citizenship is anchored through membership, and as such, membership is crucial to nation-states.

Goodman deftly demonstrates the interaction between context and government orientation using paired case-study comparisons in the next three chapters. Embarking on these case studies allows her to demonstrate the main tenants of her argument, as well as to delve deeply into these main causal mechanisms, something that quantitative analysis cannot fully address.

Chapter 4 looks at a comparison of different governments in similar citizenship contexts. The author uses the examples of Austria and Denmark to show where the context is one of a restrictive nature. Both the language and citizenship tests implemented by these two states were intended to decrease naturalization rates. In these two cases, they exemplify how civic integration policies are adopted in order to maintain the status quo of restriction. Moreover, this paired case study demonstrates that the right government is not required for civic integration policy. In the next chapter, which compares similar governments in different citizenship contexts, she looks at Germany and the UK. Here, it was both left governments that first formally adopted civic integration policies, with a large influence from the right. But because citizenship orientations served as the basis for policy change, in the result was variations in membership policy.

In her final two case studies, presented in Chapter 6, Goodman examines civic integration policy outcomes in countries where both the context of citizenship and the ideology of governments are similar. Both the experiences of Netherlands and France can be characterized with having a liberal citizenship orientation and the path of left-then-right governments with far right influence. The author shows that despite these identical contexts, different civic integration outcomes emerge to varying causal mechanisms. Netherlands practiced pillarization, which allowed religious and ideological differences to thrive by allowing each group to have its own schools, sports clubs, newspapers, and so on. This multiculturalist approach provides immigrants with the ability to retain elements of their cultural identity while feeling part of a national object. The main rationale for the Dutch to adopt this policy perspective is their thinking that these immigrants would never become permanent residents. In the case of France, Goodman asserts that while they are known for advocating a restrictive immigration policy, in practice this was not so. France, in fact, has had a tradition of assimilation, which is deeply in republicanism.

In her final empirical chapter, Goodman shifts her focus from internal policymaking to the external dimensions of civic integration: What sorts of entry requirements are adopted by each state? An important consideration to account for is supranational precedent by the EU. She discusses the increasingly important role of EU-level decision making in the immigration policy arena, and nowhere is this more evident than in the recent decision made by EU ministers to approve a plan that distributes ∼120,000 refugees more evenly across the member states, despite fierce dissent from Hungary and former Soviet bloc members. This action is likely only the first that the ministers will have to take in response to the continued violence and unrest in the Middle East and Africa.

Goodman’s research raises a whole host of future research inquires. First and foremost, the author herself suggests the importance of understanding how these various policies affect the immigrants. As such, a fruitful avenue for immigration scholars would be to determine how these various integration policies impact immigrants’ attitudes to belonging, identity, and membership, to name just a few. Scholars could also investigate the extent to which such policies integrate immigrants politically, socially, and economically. For instance, do states with more stringent civic integration policies lead to greater levels of political participation among immigrants? Relatedly, do states that foster a strong sense of national identity lead to greater levels of political and social activism among immigrant communities? Scholars could also examine the role that public opinion plays in the policy positions adopted by political parties, as a way to determine the extent to which politicians are responding to their constituents’ concerns or whether they are using immigration as a way to mobilize voters.

In light of recent events, it will be of great import to see how the states analyzed in the author’s case studies evolve over time and whether they will change their civic integration policies, particularly in the case of Germany. Goodman contends that “European states are innovatively responding to diverse immigration, illustrating an overall adaptability and resilience to the nation-state in the twenty-first century” (p. 15). Let us hope that they will do so in a humanitarian and just manner.