Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-ttngx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-16T13:29:29.931Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Marketizing Sovereign Prerogatives: How to Sell Citizenship

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 November 2021

Kristin Surak
Kristin Surak*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, LondonSchool of Economics and Political Science [K.Surak@lse.ac.uk].
Get access

Abstract

How is a sovereign prerogative brought to market? We know much about how states shape markets and vice versa, but less about the dynamics when states not only set market rules, but are also the sole producer of the good. This article takes up the case of citizenship by investment—“golden passport” programs that offer citizenship in recognition of an investment in a country—to unpack the challenges that appear when states commodify sovereign prerogatives. In these cases, the state holds multiple roles that generate conflicts of interest and a concern for credibility. To address these concerns, states may adopt two strategies: institute a division of labor in issuing the product, and outsource elements of supervision to third-party actors. Empirically, the analysis shows how migration service providers retooled murky discretionary grants of citizenship in peripheral countries into formal citizenship by investment schemes. The conclusion addresses how these strategies apply in markets for other sovereign prerogatives, particularly government debt, and discusses the implications for citizenship and neoliberalism.

Résumé

Résumé

Comment une prérogative souveraine est-elle mise sur le marché? Nous en savons beaucoup sur la manière dont les États façonnent les marchés et vice-versa, mais moins sur les dynamiques quand les États non seulement fixent les règles du marché, mais sont également le seul producteur du bien marchand. Cet article aborde le cas de la nationalité par l’investissement – des programmes de « golden passports » qui offrent la nationalité en échange d’un investissement dans un pays – pour décortiquer les défis qui apparaissent lorsque les États marchandisent des prérogatives souveraines. Dans ces cas, l’État joue de multiples rôles qui génèrent des conflits d’intérêts et un problème de crédibilité. Pour répondre à ces préoccupations, les États peuvent adopter deux stratégies: instaurer une division du travail dans la délivrance du produit, et sous-traiter les éléments de supervision à des acteurs tiers. Empiriquement, l’analyse montre comment les prestataires de services de migration ont réorganisé les octrois discrétionnaires de nationalité dans les pays périphériques en dispositifs formels d’acquisition de la nationalité adossés à des programmes d’investissement. La conclusion aborde la manière dont ces stratégies s’appliquent sur les marchés pour d’autres prérogatives souveraines, en particulier la dette publique, et examine les implications pour la citoyenneté et le néolibéralisme.

Zusammenfassung

Zusammenfassung

Wie wird ein hoheitliches Vorrecht auf den Markt gebracht? Wir wissen viel darüber, wie Staaten Märkte formen und umgekehrt, aber weniger über die Dynamik, wenn Staaten nicht nur die Regeln des Marktes festlegen, sondern auch der einzige Hersteller eines Marktgutes sind. Dieser Aufsatz nimmt den Fall der Staatsbürgerschaft durch Investitionen – „goldene Pass“-Programme zur Erlangung der Staatsbürgerschaft im Gegenzug zu Investitionen im jeweiligen Land – zum Anlass, um die Herausforderungen zu entschlüsseln, die entstehen, wenn Staaten souveräne Vorrechte zur Ware machen. In diesen Fällen spielt der Staat mehrere Rollen, was zu Interessenkonflikten und einem Glaubwürdigkeitsproblem führt. Um diese Bedenken auszuräumen, können die Staaten zwei Strategien verfolgen: die Einrichtung einer Arbeitsteilung bei der Bereitstellung des Marktgutes und die Auslagerung der Überwachungselemente an dritte Akteure. Empirisch zeigt die Analyse, wie Migrationsdienstleister das staatliche Vergaberecht von Staatsbürgerschaften in peripheren Ländern in formale, durch Investitionsprogramme unterstützte Programme zum Erwerb der Staatsbürgerschaft umorganisiert haben. In der Schlussfolgerung wird erörtert, wie sich diese Strategien auf Märkte anderer hoheitlicher Vorrechte, insbesondere auf die Staatsverschuldung, auswirken, und es werden die Implikationen für die Staatsbürgerschaft und den Neoliberalismus betrachtet.

Keywords

CitizenshipSovereigntyCommodificationMarketsGolden passportsCitoyennetéSouverainetéMarchandisationMarchésGolden passportsStaatsbürgerschaftSouveränitätKodifizierungMärkteGoldene Pässe
Type
Research Article
Information
European Journal of Sociology / Archives Européennes de Sociologie , Volume 62 , Issue 2 , August 2021 , pp. 275 - 308
Copyright
© European Journal of Sociology 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Abrahamian, Atossa Araxia, 2015. The Cosmopolites: The Coming of the Global Citizen (New York, Columbia Global Reports).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aguiar, Mark and Amador, Manuel, 2013. “Sovereign Debt: A Review,” National Bureau of Economic Research, Working paper, 19388.Google Scholar
Assembly of Ireland, 1998. Adjournment Debate––Non-National Passport Holders [http://oireachtasdebates.oireachtas.ie/debates%20authoring/DebatesWebPack.nsf/takes/dail1998101500022].Google Scholar
Bauböck, Rainer, 2010. “Studying Citizenship Constellations,” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 36 (5): 847–859.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Becker Gary, S., 1998. “Why Not Let Immigrants Pay for Speedy Entry?,” in Becker, Gary S and Becker, Guity Nashat, eds, The Economics of Life: From Baseball to Affirmative Action to Immigration, How Real-World Issues Affect Our Everyday Life (New York, McGraw-Hill: 58–59).Google Scholar
Beckert, Jens, 2009. “The Social Order of Markets,” Theory and Society, 38 (3): 245–269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beckert, Jens and Dewey, Matias, 2017. The Architecture of Illegal Markets: Towards an Economic Sociology of Illegality in the Economy (Oxford/New York, Oxford University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Biglaiser, Glen and Staats, Joseph, 2012. “Finding the ‘Democratic Advantage’ in Sovereign Bond Ratings: The Importance of Strong Courts, Property Rights Protection, and the Rule of Law,” International Organization, 66 (3): 515–535.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boatcă, Manuela, 2014. “Commodification of Citizenship: Global Inequalities and the Modern Transmission of Property,” in Wallerstein, Immanuel, Chase-Dunn, Christopher, and Suter, Christian, eds, Overcoming Global Inequalities (London, Routledge: 3–18).Google Scholar
Boatcă, Manuela, 2015. Global Inequalities Beyond Occidentalism (Surrey, Ashgate).Google Scholar
Borna, Shaheen and Stearns, James M., 2002. “The Ethics and Efficacy of Selling National Citizenship,” Journal of Business Ethics, 37 (2): 193–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bourdieu, Pierre, 1986.“The Forms of Capital,” in Richardson, J., ed., Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education (New York, Greenwood: 241–258).Google Scholar
Browne Gaston, A., 2016. “Rebuilding a Stronger, Safer, and Prosperous Antigua and Barbuda: 2016 Budget Statement” (Antigua, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Corporate Governance).Google Scholar
Bruner Christopher, M. and Abdelal, Rawi, 2005. To Judge Leviathan: Sovereign Credit Ratings, National Law, and the World Economy , SSRN Scholarly Paper [ID 1109075] (Rochester NY, Social Science Research Network).Google Scholar
Bullough, Oliver, 2018. Moneyland (London, Profile Books).Google Scholar
Capgemini, 2018. World Wealth Report (Paris, Capgemini Financial Services).Google Scholar
Carrera, Sergio, 2014. “How Much Does EU Citizenship Cost?,” CEPS Paper in Liberty and Security in Europe, 64.Google Scholar
Carruthers Bruce, G. and Halliday, Terence C., 1998. Rescuing Business: The Making of Corporate Bankruptcy Law in England and the United States (Oxford/New York, Oxford University Press).Google Scholar
Carruthers Bruce, G. and Stinchcombe, Arthur L., 1999. “The Social Structure of Liquidity: Flexibility, Markets, and States,” Theory and Society, 28 (3): 353–382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chiswick Barry, R., 1982. “The Impact of Immigration on the Level and Distribution of Economic Well-Being,” in Chiswick, Barry R, ed., The Gateway: U.S. Immigration Issues and Policies (Washington DC, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research: 281–313).Google Scholar
Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 2003. Citizenship and Immigration Canada: Serving Canada and the World (Ottawa, Citizenship and Immigration Canada).Google Scholar
Credit Suisse Research Institute, 2015. Global Wealth Report 2015 (Zurich, Credit Suisse).Google Scholar
Credit Suisse Research Institute, 2018. Global Wealth Report 2018 (Zurich, Credit Suisse).Google Scholar
Crouch, Colin, 2011. The Strange Non-Death of Neoliberalism (Cambridge, Polity).Google Scholar
Cyprus, Mail, 2018. “Almost 2,500 Applications Filed for ‘Golden Visas’,” December 11 [https://cyprus-mail.com/2018/12/11/almost-2500-applications-filed-for-golden-visas/].Google Scholar
De Groot, Gerard-Rene and Vonk, Oliver Willem, 2016. International Standards on Nationality Law: Texts, Cases and Materials (Oisterwijk, Wolf Legal Publishers).Google Scholar
DeRosa, James, 1995. “The Immigrant Investor Program: Cleaning Up Canada’s Act,” Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law, 27 (2): 359–405.Google Scholar
Dobbin, Frank, 2001. “Why the Economy Reflects the Polity: Early Rail Policy in Britain, France, and the United States,” in Granovetter, Mark and Swedberg, Richard, eds, The Sociology of Economic Life (Boulder, CO, Westview Press: 63–85).Google Scholar
Drutman, Lee, 2015. The Business of America is Lobbying (Oxford, Oxford University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dzankic, Jelena, 2012. “The Pros and Cons of Ius Pecuniae: Investor Citizenship in Comparative Perspective,” EUI Working Papers (Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, EUDO Citizenship Observatory, 14).Google Scholar
Dzankic, Jelena, 2019. The Global Market for Investor Citizenship (Cham, Switzerland, Palgrave MacMillan).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
European Commission, 2019. “Investor Citizenship and Residence Schemes in the European Union,” Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, SWD(2019)5, COM(2019)12 (Brussels, European Commission).Google Scholar
Fastenrath, Florian, Schwan, Michael, and Trampusch, Christine, 2017. “Where States and Markets Meet: The Financialisation of Sovereign Debt Management,” New Political Economy, 22 (3): 273–293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Financial Times . 2014. “I’d Be Willing to Sell My Citizenship,” February 28.Google Scholar
Fitzgerald, David, 2006. “Rethinking Emigrant Citizenship,” New York University Law Review, 81 (1): 90–116.Google Scholar
Flandreau, Marc and Flores, Juan, 2009. “Bonds and Brands: Foundations of Sovereign Debt Markets, 1820-1830,” The Journal of Economic History, 69 (3): 646–684.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flandreau, Marc, Flores, Juan, Gaillard, Norbert and Nieto-Parra, Sebastián, 2009. “The End of Gatekeeping: Underwriters and the Quality of Sovereign Bond Markets, 1815-2007,” Working Paper, 15128 (National Bureau of Economic Research).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fligstein, Neil, 1993. The Transformation of Corporate Control (Cambridge Mass.,/Milton Keynes UK, Harvard University Press).Google Scholar
Fligstein, Neil, 2001. The Architecture of Markets: An Economic Sociology of Twenty-First-Century Capitalist Societies (Princeton NJ, Princeton University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fourcade, Marion, 2017. “State Metrology: The Rating of Sovereigns and the Judgment of Nations,” in Morgan, Kimberly and Orloff, Ann Shola, eds, The Many Hands of the State: Theorizing Political Authority and Social Control (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press: 103–127).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grell-Brisk, Marilyn, 2018. “Eluding National Boundaries: A Case Study of Commodified Citizenship and the Transnational Capitalist Class,” Societies, 8 (2): 35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harpaz, Yossi, 2013. “Rooted Cosmopolitans: Israelis with a European Passport—History, Property, Identity,” International Migration Review, 47 (1): 166–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harpaz, Yossi, 2019. Citizenship 2.0: Dual Nationality as a Global Asset (Princeton, Princeton University Press).Google Scholar
Harrington, Brooke, 2016. Capital without Borders: Wealth Managers and the One Percent (Cambridge MA, Harvard University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harvey, David, 2007. A Brief History of Neoliberalism (Oxford, Oxford University Press).Google Scholar
Healy Kieran, Joseph, 2006. Last Best Gifts: Altruism and the Market for Human Blood and Organs (Chicago, University of Chicago Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heimer Carol, A., 1985. “Allocating Information Costs in a Negotiated Information Order: Interorganizational Constraints on Decision Making in Norwegian Oil Insurance,” Administrative Science Quarterly, 30 (3): 395–417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henley & Partners and Kochenov, Dimitry, 2019. Quality of Nationality Index (Zurich, Ideos).Google Scholar
Hidalgo, Javier, 2016. “Selling Citizenship: A Defence,” Journal of Applied Philosophy 33 (3): 223–239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hockett, Robert and Omarova, Saule, 2014. “‘Private’ Means to ‘Public’ Ends: Governments as Market Actors,”Theoretical Inquiries in Law, 15 (1): 53–76.Google Scholar
Hürriyet Daily News, 2019. “250 Apply for Turkish Citizenship Through Investment,” [January 2. http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/250-apply-for-turkish-citizenship-through-investment-140193].Google Scholar
Ingram, Paul and Rao, Hayagreeva, 2004. “Store Wars: The Enactment and Repeal of Anti-Chain Store Legislation in America,” American Journal of Sociology, 110 (2): 446–487.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, Kit, 2018. “A Citizenship Market,” Illinois Law Review, 2018: 970–999.Google Scholar
Ghazal, Mohammad, 2018. “Eight Requests for Nationality by Arab Investors to be Approved,” Jordan Times [Sept. 18, http://www.jordantimes.com/news/local/eight-requests-nationality-arab-investors-be-approved-—-officials].Google Scholar
Kathimerini, 2019. “‘Sold out’ ta diavatíria gia to 2019 kai to 2020,” November 19 [https://www.kathimerini.com.cy/gr/oikonomiki/oikonomia/sold-out-ta-diabatiria-gia-to-2019-kai-to-2020].Google Scholar
KnightFrank, 2018. The Wealth Report, 19 (London, KnightFrank Research).Google Scholar
Krakat Michael, B., 2018. “Genuine Links Beyond State and Market Control: The Sale of Citizenship by Investment in International and Supranational Legal Perspective,” Bond Law Review, 30(1): 145–148.Google Scholar
Krippner Greta, R., 2012. Capitalizing on Crisis: The Political Origins of the Rise of Finance (Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Livne, Roi and Yonay, Yuval P., 2016. “Performing Neoliberal Governmentality: An Ethnography of Financialized Sovereign Debt Management Practices,” Socio-Economic Review, 14 (2): 339–362.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lori, Noora, 2019. Offshore Citizens: Permanent Temporary Status in the Gulf (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Los Angeles Times, 1991. “Breezes of Change in Tonga,” November 30, [http://articles.latimes.com/1991-11-30/news/mn-96_1_south-pacific-air].Google Scholar
Marshall, T. H., 1950. Citizenship and Social Class, and Other Essays (Cambridge England, University Press).Google Scholar
Mavelli, Luca, 2018. “Citizenship for Sale and the Neoliberal Political Economy of Belonging,” International Studies Quarterly, 62 (3): 482–493.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Office of the Regulator, 2014. First Annual Report on the IIP Programme of the Government of Malta (Valletta).Google Scholar
Office of the Regulator, 2015. Second Annual Report on the IIP Programme of the Government of Malta (Valletta).Google Scholar
Ong, Aihwa, 2006. Neoliberalism as Exception: Mutations in Citizenship and Sovereignty (Durham N.C., Duke University Press Books).Google Scholar
Ogle, Vanessa, 2020. “‘Funk Money’: The End of Empire, the Expansion of Tax Havens, and Decolonization as an Economic and Financial Event,” Past & Present, 249 (1): 213–249.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palan, Ronen, Murphy, Richard and Chavagneux, Chrisitian, 2013. Tax Havens: How Globalization Really Works (Ithaca, Cornell University Press).Google Scholar
Parker, Owen, 2017. “Commercializing Citizenship in Crisis EU: The Case of Immigrant Investor Programmes,” Journal of Common Market Studies, 55 (2): 332–348.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peck, Jamie, 2001. “Neoliberalizing States: Thin Policies/Hard Outcomes,” Progress in Human Geography, 25 (3): 445–455.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pitel, Laura, 2019. “Turkish Passport Demand Soars as Rules Relaxed,” Financial Times, January 2 [http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/250-apply-for-turkish-citizenship-through-investment-140193].Google Scholar
Polanyi, Karl, 2001. The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time (Boston, MA: Beacon Press).Google Scholar
Quinn, Sarah, 2008. “The Transformation of Morals in Markets: Death, Benefits, and the Exchange of Life Insurance Policies,” American Journal of Sociology, 114 (3): 738–780.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roy William, G., 1999. Socializing Capital: The Rise of the Large Industrial Corporation in America (Princeton N.J., Princeton University Press).Google Scholar
Royal News, 2018. “Foreign Owners of Existing Projects Can Apply for Jordanian Citizenship” [https://en.royanews.tv/news/15514/2018-10-17].Google Scholar
Saiegh, Sebastian, 2009. “Coalition Governments and Sovereign Debt Crises,” Economics & Politics, 21 (2): 232–254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scherrer, Amandine and Thirion, Elodie, 2018. Citizenship by Investment (CBI) and Residency by Investment (RBI) Schemes in the EU: State of Play, Issues and Impacts: Study (Parliament, European Parliamentary Research Service, and European Value Added Unit).Google Scholar
Schwalbach, Nicole, 2013. Bürgerrecht als Wirtschaftsfaktor: Normen und Praxis der Finanzeinbürgerung in Liechtenstein 1919-1955 (Zurich, Chronos Verlag).Google Scholar
Senate of Ireland, 2002. Adjournment Matter––Investment Based Naturalisation Scheme, Seanad Debates, 170 (26).Google Scholar
Shachar, Ayelet, 2017. “Citizenship For Sale?,” in Shachar, Ayelet, Bauböck, Rainer, Bloemraad, Irene and Vink, Maarten, eds, The Oxford Handbook of Citizenship (Oxford, Oxford University Press: 789–816).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shachar, Ayelet, 2018. “The Marketization of Citizenship in an Age of Restrictionism,” Ethics and International Affairs, 32: 3–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shachar, Ayelet and Bauböck, Rainer, 2014. “Should Citizenship Be for Sale?,” Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, EUDO Citizenship Observatory, 2014/01 [http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2380665].CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shachar, Ayelet and Hirschl, Ran, 2014. “On Citizenship, States, and Markets,” Journal of Political Philosophy, 22 (2): 231–257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simon Julian, Lincoln, 1989. The Economic Consequences of Immigration (Oxford, Blackwell).Google Scholar
Somers Margaret, R., 2008. Genealogies of Citizenship: Markets, Statelessness, and the Right to Have Rights (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press).Google Scholar
South China Morning Post , 1983. “Caribbean Passport for Investors,” May 14.Google Scholar
South China Morning Post , 1991. “Tongan Passport ‘Gave No Trouble,’” March 2.Google Scholar
South China Morning Post , 1992. “Passport to Nowhere,” February 22.Google Scholar
Spiro Peter, J., 2008. Beyond Citizenship: American Identity After Globalization (Oxford, Oxford University Press).Google Scholar
Steier, Lloyd, 1998. “Market and Hierarchy in Venture Capital Governance: The Canadian Immigrant Investor Program,” Journal of Management Studies, 35 (4): 511–535.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strange, Susan, 1988. States and Markets (London/New York, Bloomsbury Academic).Google Scholar
Surak, Kristin, 2016. “Global Citizenship 2.0.” IMC-RP 2016/3. Investment Migration Council Working Papers.Google Scholar
Surak, Kristin, 2020a. “What Money Can Buy: Citizenship by Investment on a Global Scale,” in Fassin, Didier, ed. Deepening Divides: How Territorial Borders and Social Boundaries Delineate Our World (London, Pluto Press: 21–38).Google Scholar
Surak, Kristin, 2020b. “Millionaire Mobility and the Sale of Citizenship,” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 47 (1): 166–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Surak, Kristin, 2022. Citizenship 4 Sale: Millionaires, Microstates, and Mobility (Harvard, Harvard University Press).Google Scholar
Trampusch, Christine, 2019. “The Financialization of the State: Government Debt Management Reforms in New Zealand and Ireland,” Competition and Change, 23 (1): 3–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Fossen, Anthony, 2002. “Financial Frauds and Pseudo-States in the Pacific Islands,” Crime, Law and Social Change, 37 (4): 357–378.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Veteto, Jeff, 2014. “The Alienability of Allegiance: An International Survey of Economic Citizenship Laws,” The International Lawyer, 48 (1): 79–110.Google Scholar