Discretionary Power in the Hands of an Authoritarian State

A Study of Denaturalizations under the Vichy Regime (1940-1944)

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3444366
AutoresClaire Zalc (0000-0003-4264-1458, École des hautes études en sciences sociales, autor de correspondencia)
Año2020
Volumen92
Número4
Páginas817-858
Fecha de publicación2020-12-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Journal of Modern History (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0022-2801 • E-ISSN: 1537-5358
EditorialUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/711477
OpenAlexW3104039232
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas16

During its first days of existence, the Vichy regime ordered a review of recent naturalizations. In accordance with a law passed on July 22, 1940, denaturalization decisions were made on a case-by-case basis by a commission tasked with reviewing all naturalizations granted since 1927. Examining these cases collectively by quantifying a thousand denaturalization files takes into account any individual variations in decision making. Denaturalization procedures are an excellent field of investigation for observing the relation between an ideological project and its administrative implementation. This article opens a field of investigation that questions the boundary between discretionary and absolute power. It explores the consequences of leaving a degree of freedom to administrations in authoritarian regimes

Authoritarianism · Boundary (topology · Commission · Democracy · Field (mathematics · Ideology · Law and economics · Physics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Relation (database · Sociology · State (computer science · Computer Science · European Political History Analysis · French Historical and Cultural Studies · Law · Political and Social Issues