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Divided loyalty? Identification and political participation of dual citizens in Switzerland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 June 2015

Andrea Schlenker
Andrea Schlenker*
Affiliation:
Institute of Political Science, University of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland
*
*E-mail: andrea.schlenker@unilu.ch
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Abstract

In spite of the recent increase in dual citizenship, there are widespread fears that this double status undermines loyalty towards the state, understood as identification with and political participation in the country of residence. We analyze whether there are systematic differences between dual citizens, mono citizens, and foreign residents in this respect, based on data from a 2013 survey of dual citizens in Switzerland with very different migration backgrounds. The results reveal that controlling for migration-related and socio-demographic factors, dual citizens are more loyal in many respects than foreign residents, but there are no significant differences between dual citizens and mono citizens in their level of identification with Switzerland and political participation there. They are even more likely than mono citizens to participate in serving its interests. In addition, there is no trade-off between these forms of loyalty to the country of residence and identification and political participation in the country of descent. On the contrary, they are positively related. Transnational loyalties seem to co-exist or even to be mutually reinforcing. Thus, dual citizenship does not seem to diminish loyalty to the country of residence and countries therefore do not stand to lose anything by allowing it.

Keywords

dual citizenshiptransnationalismloyaltyidentificationpolitical participation
Type
Research Article
Information
European Political Science Review , Volume 8 , Issue 4 , November 2016 , pp. 517 - 546
Copyright
© European Consortium for Political Research 2015 

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