In this research, I undertake an analysis of the relationship between aggregate voter turnout and income inequality within late-modern capitalist democracies to better understand the problem of declining voter turnout in these societies. I analyse this relationship at the sub-national level using provincial-level Canadian data and at the national level through a sample of twenty-one nations. At both levels, cross-sectional time-series regression analyses of pooled data are applied. Findings are interpreted through a citizenship lens; specifically the work of T.H. Marshall (1950) and Esping-Andersen (1990), as both social and political inclusion are fundamental and constitutive elements of citizenship. Initial findings include a statistically significant negative relationship between income inequality and voter turnout, for both provincial and federal general elections in Canada (1976-2011); this relationship is also found at the national level in a sample of older democracies (1980-2013). The relationship holds using various measures of income inequality including the Gini coefficient and a range of income ratios. However, once time is controlled for in the model this relationship seems to disappear. This suggests a lack of support for the theory that income inequality has a direct impact on participation in the exercise of political power. Rather, a more fundamental factor or factors seem to be causing these societal shifts. I discuss alternate ways of understanding this relationship, including how declining voter turnout and income inequality might be related to the broader socio-political and economic changes associated with economic globalisation and the global spread of neo-liberal fiscal policies. I conclude that to better understand the relationship between voter turnout and income inequality further research is required. / Graduate / 0630 / stewartl@uvic.ca

The right to belong and participate in some form of political community is the most fundamental social right there is. This dissertation argues that social rights have not been understood broadly enough, that there has not been enough attention paid to their historical roots, and that they must not be viewed as being simply passive welfare rights. Rather, they must be seen in their historical context, and they must be seen for what they are: a much larger and more substantive phenomenon than what liberal theory has projected: both theoretically and empirically. I am calling this body of discourse “the social citizenship tradition.” This dissertation hopes to show that there was more than one definition of social citizenship historically and that social rights are certainly not “new.” In surveying a vast literature in Britain, the United States, and Canada, it points to places where alternative social rights claims have entered politics and society. By looking at writings from these three countries over three centuries, the evidence points to some similarities as well as differences in how scholars approached questions of economic and social rights. In particular, similar arguments over labour and property figured prominently in all three countries. The contextual ground of right was different in each country but the voice of social action was similar. The objective here is to reunite this common tradition of social citizenship with its past. It is because of classical liberalism that social right has lost focus and power, and a whole tradition of political thinking has been lost.This tradition has been narrowed to the point that it might be unrecognizable to the more radical forces, those who also fought for it, in the American, Canadian and British pasts.

The right to belong and participate in some form of political community is the most fundamental social right there is. This dissertation argues that social rights have not been understood broadly enough, that there has not been enough attention paid to their historical roots, and that they must not be viewed as being simply passive welfare rights. Rather, they must be seen in their historical context, and they must be seen for what they are: a much larger and more substantive phenomenon than what liberal theory has projected: both theoretically and empirically. I am calling this body of discourse “the social citizenship tradition.” This dissertation hopes to show that there was more than one definition of social citizenship historically and that social rights are certainly not “new.” In surveying a vast literature in Britain, the United States, and Canada, it points to places where alternative social rights claims have entered politics and society. By looking at writings from these three countries over three centuries, the evidence points to some similarities as well as differences in how scholars approached questions of economic and social rights. In particular, similar arguments over labour and property figured prominently in all three countries. The contextual ground of right was different in each country but the voice of social action was similar. The objective here is to reunite this common tradition of social citizenship with its past. It is because of classical liberalism that social right has lost focus and power, and a whole tradition of political thinking has been lost.This tradition has been narrowed to the point that it might be unrecognizable to the more radical forces, those who also fought for it, in the American, Canadian and British pasts.

This study centred on three local governments which claimed to give priority to youth participation. Two of those municipalities were identified on the basis of employing youth participation officers, while the third was volunteered to participate in the study by the Mayor of the day who claimed that " their Council was streets ahead " of other local governments in their response to the issues of young people from within their municipality. The study was designed to ascertain how the selected Councils engaged with young people and provided opportunities for them to participate fully in the community. I interviewed the key stakeholders of the three municipalities from which I had agreement to participate. During these frank, unstructured interviews, I asked a range of questions about engagement of young people within the community. Each interview was of approximately one hour duration. Interviewees included elected councillors including the Mayor of each municipality; senior staff within Councils including each Chief Executive Officer; and youth work staff including those described as Youth Participation and Youth Development Officers. I also examined corporate documents including Annual Reports, Annual Plans, and Council Meeting Minutes from each of the councils under study. These documents provided valuable information about Council priorities, budgets, achievements and future directions. For another part of the study, I examined back copies of Leader newspapers published in each of the municipalities under study. Using a specially designed data collection form, I collected a range of information about all articles referring to young people, or which had young people as the main focus of the article. Following collection of newspaper data, I entered all of the information into a specially designed template I had previously created in the Statview statistical analysis program. A range of statistical calculations were then performed and frequency tables produced. This part of the study was conducted in response to a claim that newspaper reporting of youth issues in Kimberly was quite generous compared to other municipalities. Such a claim was' not proved to be statistically significant however. Nonetheless, the data showed that contrary to anecdotal evidence and other research related to young people and media, the nature of reporting of young people and their issues in the municipalities unde r study was overwhelmingly positive. Despite the rhetoric espoused by each local government In relation to youth development within their municipalities, two Councils proved to be disappointing in respect to what they actually delivered. This demonstrated that simply hiring a youth worker and giving them the title of Youth Participation Officer will achieve little if the Council is not serious about youth participation. For Athena and Burke City Councils, the rhetoric failed to concur with reality. Athena City Council demonstrated few opportunities for young people to participate in community activities and interviews with Athena staff revealed interference from elected representatives, compromising attempts to empower young people. Such interference has been blamed on Councillors trying to hurry a process to see results on the board for political gain. This study showed that the Council with the least resources and the largest geographical area actually performed far better than the other two municipalities. That particular Council adopted a community development approach to working with young people within the municipality out of necessity. As a municipality comprising a number of towns over a large area, such an approach was the only way that the youth worker could service the community. Despite individual failings, a major finding of this study is that we can conclude that local government does have a valid role in promoting the full participation of young people within their communities. This includes the involvement of young people in the development of programs and services that best meet their needs and wants. , Further, while the focus of this study was largely on the concept of social citizenship, it became apparent that a broader definition of political citizenship than simply voting or standing for office is as important for the development of young people and their participation in the community, and sometimes indistinguishable from, the concept of social citizenship. Gleaned from the study is a range of conditions determined as desirable to be present for maximising young people's full participation in their communities. These conditions are more indicative of young people's development opportunities than any of the geographical or demographic traits. These conditions include a stated policy commitment to young people; a professional framework for delivery of programs and services; a holistic approach to the delivery of services, connected to sound planning and coordination; and a supportive elected leadership team that refrains from interfering for political gain. Further, a dedicated council officer with a commitment to positively promoting and empowering young people, and supported by the organisations' policies and practices is essential. That same officer would also require a liberal dose of autonomy and an approach to the development of young people that sees the participation in a process as important as any outcome, and indeed as an outcome in itself. That local government is seen as key player within the community in relation to youth issues also became apparent from the study. Across Australia, a wide range of programs, activities and approaches were highlighted which relate to aspects of citizenship. This demonstrates an acknowledgement by local government as a sector that youth issues and youth development is no longer an optional extra, but is indeed 'core business'.

The free movement of persons in the EU has been fraught with tension since the Eastern enlargements. This culminated in 2016 when the UK demanded the possibility to limit rights and benefits to intra-EU migrants, making for a fresh investigation into the state of the free movement. From a constructivist perspective of rights and citizenship this in-depth case study aims to elucidate how EU actors describe the free movement of persons. It will further look at how they situate limitations and obstacles and analyze what this reflects in terms of underlying logics and rationales of rights and citizenship in the EU free movement regime. The interviews with EU actors reveal how distinctions of politically constructed categories of migrants which define Insiders and Outsiders are used to rationalize who has the right to social rights. Inclusion is defined in terms of market liberalism and individual responsibility, logics which thus also define the Insiders of Europe. This produces an image of the EU citizen and indirectly defines those who diverge from this image as Outsiders, including “lesser” Europeans. The underlying logics within the EU could therefore contribute to negative perceptions of those who cannot meet the requirements of the ideal European.

<p>At the beginning of the 21st century, youth unemployment is paid attention to by the Swedish government and media. A grand part of the unemployed youth live at their parents´ house because of economic reasons contrary to their primary goal to be able to make their own living. It can be argued that the young unemployed´ s social citizenship is inferior to working citizens´ social citizenship. The thesis will not deal with suggestions on practical solutions, but rather seek for theoretical answers to whether the responsibility for the young people referred to should be a responsibility of the State or of the family. Communitarianism is a relatively young theory which is interesting for this thesis because it sheds light on the dichotomy individual - community. There are different strands within the communitarian debate. I will deal with conservative, liberal and leftist communitarianism. </p><p>The classical leftist ideal of the communitarianist community includes rights and duties for the common good and is based on the assumption of people as social beings not being able or wanting to escape from the influence of her community. Liberal communitarianism, represented foremost by Will Kymlicka and Joseph Raz, is a theoretical strand coming up as a response on the (leftist) communitarianism. Also, a theory of conservative communitarianism, which´ s ideas date back to Aristotle, can be traced in the writings of Roger Scruton. </p><p>Conclusions reached are, simplified, as follows: Conservative communitarians are prone to let the parents take theresponsibility for their children. It is a natural consequence of their view of the society as an organic unity where family life and political affairs should be separated. Leftist communitarians and liberal communitarians are less apparent in their preferences. Stressing leftist communitarians´ emphasis of citizenship duties, the responsibility of the citizen indicates that state measures should not be the first tried solution. The family has an important role for leftist communitarianists but only as a link between the individual and the state. Liberal communitarians look foremost to the individual´ s own preferences concerning medium for a solution of the unemployed´ s situation. Family is not seen as a significant institution, unless it is accredited importance by its members.</p>

The purpose of this case study was to examine consequences of a limited social citizenship among young adults in the refugee camp of DeHeishe in Palestine. In order to receive a profounder understanding of conditions and structures that affects young adult’s experiences of social citizenship, status in the community and practices a case study was carried out during April 2013. The data has been collected by triangulation, conducted through nine interviews, 52 survey forms and several observations in DeHeishe camp. The data was analyzed through the theoretical approach of social citizenship, intersectionality and the concept of “empower-ment”. The study shows that young adults have a fragmented view of the concept of social citizenship and differences were seen between women and men. According to status and practice in relation to social citizenship women and men’s attitude was various and limiting structures might be the cause of it. According to the young adults the Israeli occupation is the most limiting structure along with their specific living conditions. The traditions also were seen as a limiting, but at the same time could be enabling. For this reason, the consequences were that the young adults took matters into their own hands by empowerment through NGOs and create an alternative form of social citizenship. It is through knowledge and participation they experience they can change their situation.

This thesis addresses the relationship between citizens and the welfare state with a focus on the collaboration between service users and professionals in Swedish health and social care services. The overall aim of the thesis was to explore how professionals and service users experience collaboration in health and social care. Descriptive and interpretative study designs were employed in the four studies that comprise this thesis. A total of 87 persons participated in the four studies, including 22 service users and 65 front-line professionals. The research methods included focused group interviews, individual interviews and interactive participant reflection dialogues. The first study describes the discursive patterns in the front-line professionals’ constructions of ‘we the team’ which positions the service user as both a member and a non-member of the interprofessional team. The second study surfaces the difficulties of interprofessional teamwork as perceived by professionals. The third and the fourth studies explore how service users and professionals construct and perceive the concept of service user participation. The findings show that collaboration in terms of service user participation cannot only be understood as contract relationships between consumers and service providers. Service users and professionals perceive that there are several other ways to act as a citizen and for people to exercise human agency in relation to the welfare state. This thesis shows that the various conceptions of service user participation in interprofessional practice encompass dimensions that include themes of togetherness, understanding and interaction within the clinical microsystem. The findings of the four studies are discussed and used to create models that aim to conceptualise collaboration. These models can contribute to learning and improvement processes which facilitate the development of innovative service user-centered clinical microsystems in health and social care.

Invitant à réfléchir sur l’appartenance au groupe dans le domaine de la protection sociale, la thèse contribue à éclairer cette dernière et appelle à repenser la condition de l’étranger. L’observation de la construction de l’État social révèle à quel point celui-ci est lié à l’État-Nation. La solidarité, maître-mot de la protection sociale, s’est développée dans le périmètre de l’État-Nation. N’appartenant pas au groupe national, l’étranger, à moins d’être rattaché à la collectivité des travailleurs, a été exclu du cercle de la solidarité. La construction européenne et la montée en puissance des droits de l’homme ont toutefois conduit à délégitimer la condition de nationalité pour faire prévaloir l’égalité. Alors, la voie s’est ouverte pour que se concrétise le projet d’une protection sociale universelle, i.e. applicable à toutes les personnes, en tant que membres de la société, résidant sur le territoire français. La nationalité a laissé place à la résidence. Pareil passage s’est inscrit dans un double contexte. Dans l’ordre interne d’une part, les préoccupations relatives à la maîtrise de l’immigration ont conduit à réorganiser la protection sociale de l’étranger autour de l’exigence de régularité du séjour. Plus libéral, un tel régime conserve néanmoins l’empreinte de la nationalité. L’approfondissement de l’intégration européenne et la promotion d’une nouvelle citoyenneté sociale, d’autre part, font du droit de l’UE un laboratoire incitant à ouvrir le champ des possibles. De son étude, émerge un critère universel d’accès à la protection sociale organisé moins autour du lien à l’État qu’à la société, un lien non plus de nationalité mais d’intégration. / By inviting consideration of the phenomenon of group belonging in the field of social protection, the thesis sets out to shed light on the field and calls for a rethinking of the condition of foreigners. Observation of how the social State is constructed reveals the extent to which it is related to the Nation-State. Solidarity, the key word in social protection, developed within the scope of the Nation-State. Because foreigners do not belong to the national group, they are excluded from the circle of solidarity, unless they attach themselves to the community of workers. The construction of Europe and the rise of human rights have, however, resulted in a delegitimisation of the condition of nationality in the interests of equality. The way is thus open to realise plans for universal social protection, i.e. protection applicable to all those living on French soil, by virtue of their status as members of society. Nationality has given way to residence. The context behind such a shift is twofold. At the domestic level, on the one hand, concerns over the control of immigration have resulted in social protection for foreigners being reorganised around the requirement for legal residency. Although more liberal, such a regime nevertheless retains the imprint of nationality. On the other, closer European integration and the promotion of a new social citizenship have automatically made EU law a testing ground to encourage the opening up of new possibilities. From its study there emerges a universal criterion of access to social protection centred less on the link to the State and more on the link to society, a link no longer of nationality but of integration.

Den akuta hemlösheten har ökat i såväl Sverige som internationellt under de senastedecennierna, där den ideella sektorn har fått en allt större roll i att erbjuda välfärdstjänster föratt stävja samhällsproblemet. Tidigare forskning har visat på både problematiska ochgynnsamma aspekter med organiseringen av det ideella arbetet mot akut hemlöshet. Ideelladagliga verksamheter riskerar att bidra till att situationen i hemlöshet snarare upprätthålls änförändras samtidigt som individer i hemlöshet får basala och sociala behov tillgodoseddagenom insatserna. I tidigare forskning har dock lite utrymme getts åt att undersöka dagligafrivilligorganisationers arbete mot akut hemlöshet i Sverige i förhållande till sociala rättigheteroch sociala skyldigheter. Den här kvalitativa studien har därför genom sex semistruktureradeintervjuer med personal samt deltagande observationer undersökt en dagligfrivilligorganisations insatser, funktion och syfte med utgångspunkt i socialt medborgarskapoch erkännandeteori. Studiens resultat visar att relationskapande mellan personal och gäster iakut hemlöshet är centralt för att skapa tillit men leder också till en dold disciplinering, vilketär en förutsättning för att skapa en social miljö som präglas av alla människors lika värde.Resultaten visar även att den ideella verksamhetens insatser kan bidra till att individer i akuthemlöshet kan tillvarata sociala rättigheter inom verksamhetens kontext samtidigt somverksamheten kan innebära dels en förutsättning, dels en barriär för gäster att kunna uppfyllasociala skyldigheter gentemot samhället. Relationen mellan gäster och personal kan emellertidleda till känslor av erkännande hos gäster och därmed främja självförverkligande. Socialarättigheter behöver ges lättare åtkomst till på strukturell och lokal nivå för att individer i akuthemlöshet ska ges förutsättningar att kunna delta i samhällsgemenskap och samhällsutveckling.Studiens resultat är av relevans för socialt arbete såväl på nationell och kommunal nivå som förden ideella sektorn och bidrar till en fördjupad orientering över dagliga frivilligorganisationersansvarsroll och insats i arbetet mot akut hemlöshet. / Acute homelessness has increased in both Sweden and internationally during the past decades,where the non-profit sector has gained an increasingly larger role in providing welfare servicesto prevent the social problem. Previous research has shown both problematic and beneficialaspects of day centres work towards acute homelessness. Day centres can help maintain ratherthan change the situation of homelessness, while individuals who experience homelessness alsoget basic and social needs met. However, little attention has been given to the work of daycentres in Sweden in relation to social rights and social obligations. This qualitative study has,through six semi-structured interviews with staff and participant observations, examinedinterventions, function and purpose of a day centre with social citizenship and recognition astheoretical framework. The study's findings show that relationship building between staff andguests in acute homelessness is central to creating trust but do also provide a form of discipline,which is a prerequisite for creating a social environment characterized by equality.Furthermore, the results show that the interventions offered by day centres can help individualsin acute homelessness to take account of their social rights within the context of the day centre,while serving as an obstacle as well as a possibility for individuals to fulfil social obligationstowards the society. The results also show that the relationship between guests and staff canlead to recognition among guests and promote self-realization. Social rights need to be moreeasily attainable at a structural and local level in order for individuals who experience acutehomelessness to be given the opportunity to participate in the community and socialdevelopment. The study’s results are of relevance for social work at national and local level aswell for the non-profit sector and give an orientation of the role, responsibility and interventionsof non-profit work towards acute homelessness.