A New Panel Dataset Measuring Citizenship Policies in 23 OECD Countries 1980ꟷ2014

This article introduces the first version of the Citizenship Regime Inclusiveness Index (CITRIX) dataset. Following recommendations in the literature, the new index does not reinvent the wheel but instead grounds its approach in existing resources. The dataset mainly builds on selected and partly modified indicators of the Migration and Integration Policy Index (MIPEX) strand on the Access to Nationality. It also uses the citizenship indicators of Fitzgerald et al. (2014) as well as the resources offered by DEMIG and GLOBALCIT as further cornerstones for data collection. Covering a total of 23 OECD countries from 1980 to 2014 (805 country-year observations), CITRIX zooms in on four fundamental components of citizenship regimes relating to the acquisition of nationality by immigrants and their children: (1) the residence duration requirement for ordinary naturalization; (2) the toleration of dual citizenship in naturalization; (3) further naturalization requirements, namely language and citizenship tests as well as economic and criminal record condition; and (4) the strength of jus soli. CITRIX is pragmatic in its spatio-temporal coverage, not too complex yet attentive to substantive details in its conceptualization and measurement, and valid in terms of content, internal statistical consistency as well as convergence with alternative indicators. The descriptive results show that the new data adds value: it sheds new and critical light on some existing measurements that were used to reach important conclusions and allows for an assessment of widespread assumptions about trends and dynamics in citizenship regulations across Western democracies in the past decades. Further research can use the indicators offered by CITRIX – or certain re-combinations thereof (some options are suggested) – both as dependent as well as independent variables.