Abstract
We are interested in the view of Czech policy makers over their chances to manage migration. Constrains faced by the nation state in its effort to control migration have been described as the "control gap" phenomenon.
This study is based on a qualitative research among high officials in charge of migration control. The phenomenological interviews reveal their perception of their own power or powerlessness in relation to migration.
The author argues that during the transition from disciplinary rationality toward the apparatus of security, the strategies of policymakers are influenced by their positions in a bureaucratic field of power, where all actors seek to balance power and legitimacy. The result is "state taken away from responsibility".
Especially where no public demands have been raised and thus no responsibility entrusted, the policy makers prefer legitimacy over power. Since immigration control in the Czech republic is rather apolitical, driven more likely by officials then politicians, the level of public demands is rather low.
This democratic deficit is therefore being recognized as the actual "control gap" in the Czech republic.