ABSTRACT
The chapter focuses on limits to naturalization for foreigners in the period 2008 to 2019 in the Inner Six. Based on qualitative document analysis and process tracing, the study answers the following research questions: What are the dynamics of naturalization restrictions in the Inner Six states? What are restriction goals regarding political nation sovereignty? What is the extent of epistemic fairness of threat definitions? What is the relationship between epistemic fairness of threat definitions and the endurance of neo-militant democracies in the Inner Six states? The analysis reveals no significant changes in legal rules regarding naturalization. The main enemy against which neo-militant democratic measures applied were certain individuals who tried to penetrate the political nation by obtaining citizenship. These individuals failed to assimilate into the culture of their host states. Above all, they did not acquire a command of the language of the country whose citizenship they are applying for, and thus may later pose a threat to democracy. Threat definitions were epistemically fair since they drew on an unbiased evaluation of risks and did not rely on fake enemies. Epistemic fairness, including precautions against genuine enemies of democracy, strengthened the possibilities of maintaining neo-militant democracy.
