Policy reactions to the 2015 refugee management crisis : Exploring determinants of restrictive asylum policy introductions in 15 European countries using the Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA).

The goal of this thesis is to enrich the existing case study literature on the 2015 ‘refugee crisis’ through a comparative analysis of six distinct theoretical concepts (policy determinants) and their ability to explain if a total of 15 Schengen countries reacted with restrictive policy introductions to the ‘crisis’. For this aim, the Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is employed to derive typological causal pathways, illustrating which policy determinants (and combinations of them) can systematically explain restrictive policy reactions across different asylum policy areas. The main finding of the thesis is, that a core group of five major destination countries, also characterized through competitive policy dynamics, accounts for most countries introducing restrictive policies to a) physically limit the access to their territory and b) deter people from seeking international protection in their country by curtailing rights and benefits for asylum applicants and beneficiaries of international protection. In sum, these findings indicate, that structural pressures, particularly high migratory pressures and a certain interdependency of asylum policymaking in the Schengen Area, were the main drivers for most restrictive policy reactions to the crisis rather than government ideologies or public opinion effects for example.