Discourse Analysis: Studying Changing Discourse in British Parliamentary Debates

Abstract

This article analyses policy change in German and British nationality policy between 2000 and 2010. It presents some initial findings from doctoral research, focusing mainly on the elite discursive shifts that have accompanied the changes. The decade in question has seen dramatic changes as both countries have renegotiated their identities. While Germany has shifted from an ethno-cultural discourse to a paradigm of what one might call constitutional patriotism and conscious effort to increase naturalisation rates, the UK has become more restrictive, and discourse is aimed at lowering the number of new British citizens. A comparison of the trends in both countries concludes that, though some of the changes are similar, the evidence does not point towards policy convergence but rather toward a crossing of paths.