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Universal ideals and particular constraints of social citizenship: the Chinese experience of unifying rights and responsibilities
Author(s) -
Wong Chack Kie,
Wong Ka Ying
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
international journal of social welfare
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1468-2397
pISSN - 1369-6866
DOI - 10.1111/j.1369-6866.2004.00304.x
Subject(s) - ideal (ethics) , citizenship , social responsibility , sociology , social psychology , social citizenship , perception , social practice , political science , public relations , psychology , law , politics , art , performance art , art history , neuroscience
This study looks at the perceptions of citizens in a modern Chinese society and explores whether social rights and responsibilities are unified at both ideal and practice levels. It finds that the conception that the Chinese have a weak image of social rights is no longer true. The Chinese are generally ‘right‐deficit’ at the practice level. It is also found that there are wide gaps between ideal rights and practice rights, and between ideal responsibilities and practice responsibilities, except in components affected by cultural, contextual and institutional factors. The findings suggest that, for a full understanding of social citizenship, it is necessary to look at both ideal and practice levels of social citizenship. Cultural, contextual and institutional factors are identified as moderating people's behaviour and preferences in regard to social citizenship.