Promoting �national values� in citizenship tests in Germany and Australia : a response to the current discourse on Muslims?

This chapter looks at the major changes in the citizenship legislation of Australia and Germany since 2005 and the political discourse surrounding these changes. Despite the fact that Germany and Australia have long had very different migration policies and concepts of citizenship, their naturalisation laws appear to be converging. Whereas in 1999 the residence requirement for naturalisation in Germany was 10 to 15 years and in Australia two years, the requirements are now six to eight years and four years respectively in 2008. Furthermore, the introduction of a nation-wide citizenship test occurred less than one year apart – on 1 October 2007 in Australia and on 1 September 2008 in Germany. The changes in both countries appear to denote a movement towards creating a more exclusive citizenship, one that privileges the ‘deserving’ and ‘desirable’. In addition, there has been a strong emphasis on promoting ‘national values’ through the process of taking citizenship. These trends appear to reflect the increasing concern about Muslims and about the compatibility of Islam with liberal democratic values.