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.