Explaining the Emergence of Dual Citizenship Laws in Latin America.

Until recently, governments and citizens alike have greeted the idea of dual citizenship with hostility. Most antagonism is justified along the lines of national sovereignty and the problem of dual loyalties. However, despite the history of opposition, laws allowing dual citizenship are popping up all over the world. The question is, therefore, why have these governments changed their positions regarding dual citizenship? In this paper I answer this question in the context of Latin American countries. I fill a gap in the literature by exploring the causes of dual citizenship, rather than its purported effects. There are several potential explanations-political and economic-for why the emigrant sending countries of Latin America would adopt dual citizenship laws. Of these alternatives, I argue that the economic theory is most appropriate in the context of Latin America. Using duration analysis, I show that increases in remittances received by sending countries increase the "risk" that a Latin American country will change its citizenship laws to accept dual nationality. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]