How Ideas Matter: The Case of Refugee Aid Policy in Munich.

This paper presents an analysis of refugee aid policy in Munich from 1986-2004. Why did the city expand social aid to enhance refugee living conditions and integration during a period when most of Germany was developing policies to decrease aid and discourage integration? Rational choice theory and historical institutionalism's state theory guide two dominant approaches to policy development, but while they explore why and when policies change they have less to say about which policies are pursued. I make a case for the importance of culture to policy development by showing that Munich policy was driven by a set of ideas about refugees that overpowered economic, institutional and political challenges. Its influence was strong because it fit well with the local environment in three ways: it resonated with the local political environment, it had multiple advocates, and local ideological competition was weak. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]