Graduation Year

2026

Date of Submission

4-2026

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

International Relations

Reader 1

Jean-Pierre Murray

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2026 Samuel J Martin

Abstract

This thesis looks at why the political scene in Germany and the United Kingdom have responded differently to migration in the contemporary era (2015-2025) in comparison to the guest worker era (1955-1973). Germany and the UK differ in many ways. Their institutions, citizenship traditions, party systems, and migration histories are all unique. Yet they have both ended up in a very similar political place in the modern day, and the question is why. This thesis argues that the answer is both structural and political. The underlying tension, the one Hollifield called the liberal paradox, has been a constant part of both countries since the end of WW2. Governments want to restrict migration, yet their economies need it, and that contradiction never gets resolved. What changed is that elites used to be able to keep that tension off the public agenda. In Germany this was done through technocratic channels and the official line that the country was not an immigration nation. In Britain it was done through neutral legal language that hid the racial logic underneath. In both cases, elites controlled the agenda. But because of major Far-right parties and social media they no longer have that ability. The AfD, UKIP, and Reform UK keep immigration in front of voters in a way no previous party did, and social media lets a small group of actors drive national debate without going through traditional media. These tensions are not new; what is new is that there is no longer anything containing them.

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