Rights, Duties and Conditioning Welfare

32 Pages Posted: 29 May 2007 Last revised: 27 Apr 2009

See all articles by Amir Paz-Fuchs

Amir Paz-Fuchs

University of Sussex Law School

Date Written: January 24, 2008

Abstract

Somewhere between welfare to work policy and the jurisprudential analysis of rights and duties lies the third way motto of no rights without responsibilities. This paper shows how this proclamation offers no less than a new construction of one's rights insofar as they depend on the obligations that he or she owes society. Investigating this new formulation through the established perspectives of the Interest (or Benefit) Theory and the Choice (or Will) theory sheds light on the jurisprudential background of this move, and its possible consequences. The paper then moves to describe the concrete impact that this theoretical reconstruction has on provisions embedded in welfare to work programs, and suggests that this may serve as a pilot for a more comprehensive, and thus problematic, social policy. In the final section of the paper, the doctrine of unconstitutional conditions is revisited and improved in a way that, if accepted, may bar governments from diluting rights of disadvantaged groups and endangering them into becoming illusory.

Keywords: Rights, Duties, Welfare Reform

JEL Classification: Jurisprudence, Welfare Law and Policy

Suggested Citation

Paz-Fuchs, Amir, Rights, Duties and Conditioning Welfare (January 24, 2008). Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=989355

Amir Paz-Fuchs (Contact Author)

University of Sussex Law School ( email )

Falmer
Brighton BN1 9QE
United Kingdom

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