College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Graduation Date

11-2017

Document Type

Thesis

Department/Program Conferring Degree

International Studies

Keywords

Germany, Hungary, European Union, immigration policy, public opinion

Abstract

Currently, the European Union struggles to deliver a united response to the immigration issue. In order to bring forth a framework for its improvement, it is important to consider the reasons for individual member states’ behaviors. This study attempts to examine the factors influencing the immigration policies of Germany and Hungary, whose policies appear to differ the greatest and should thus encompass most of the spectrum a majority of other member states fall under. The thesis will describe the effect of the economy, history, previous contact with foreigners, shaping of national identity, as well as education on the populations’ attitudes towards immigrants and the countries’ policies. This study concludes that all these factors are essential for understanding the countries’ immigration policies and should be considered when constructing common European asylum and immigration policies.

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