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Renegotiating Social Citizenship in the Age of Devolution
Author(s) -
Simpson Mark
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of law and society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.263
H-Index - 48
eISSN - 1467-6478
pISSN - 0263-323X
DOI - 10.1111/jols.12061
Subject(s) - citizenship , social citizenship , political science , devolution (biology) , social rights , regionalism (politics) , political economy , welfare state , democratization , legislature , public administration , politics , sociology , democracy , law , anthropology , human evolution
The period 2012 to 2016 saw important developments in the role of the United Kingdom's devolved legislatures in shaping the social rights of citizenship. Near‐uniformity in social security is being eroded, with competences devolved to Scotland and Northern Ireland proceeding with limited divergence from Great Britain. This turn to regionalism is linked with dissatisfaction with British government approaches. This article examines developments from a social citizenship perspective. Welfare state regionalism is a challenge to Marshall's perceived unitary view of citizenship. Yet, it is argued, moves towards divergence are driven by regional differences of perspective on citizens' social rights and reciprocal obligations in a way that emphasizes the continued relevance of Marshallian theory. The democratization of political rights gave birth to social rights in the early twentieth century; today, the regionalization of democratic citizenship enables alternative visions for social citizenship to be articulated and begin to shape welfare services at devolved level.