Integration in plain figures? Approaches to integration monitoring in Germany
The past decade was characterised in Germany by profound political, legislative and institutional changes with regard to integration policy. In this context, the question increasingly arises as to whether and how to determine the successes and failures of Germany´s integration policy. The development of so-called "integration monitoring" that has experienced a boom in Germany in recent years, represents such an attempt. It records the current state and changes in immigrant integration by means of regularly collated statistical parameters (indicators). Susanne Worbs gives a brief overview of the development of integration monitoring in Germany before leading into an analysis of the similarities and differences between selected approaches. The policy brief is intended to contribute to an assessment of the potential, and also the limits, of current integration monitoring. (Published 05/2010)