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Citizenship and the Welfare State: A Critique of David Miller's Theory of Nationality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2008

Neil Hibbert
Neil Hibbert
Affiliation:
Queen's University
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Abstract

Abstract. For much of the post-war period of welfare state formation, T.H. Marshall's idea of shared entitlement to universal social rights of citizenship formed the theoretical foundations of social democratic political reforms and legitimacy. This approach has been updated by contemporary egalitarian theorists, such as John Rawls. The ongoing politics of restructuring have led to a growing number of arguments against the motivational capacity of an institutional account of social unity. This paper examines a particular argument against rights-based citizenship—David Miller's theory of nationality. Miller argues that “pure” citizenship rests on self-interest, and thus when differences in risk are explicit it can only legitimate minimal redistribution. Strong welfare states require pre-political ties and must be embedded in the ethical relations of shared nationality. Against Miller's position, it is advanced that shared citizenship has both effective motivational and moral dimensions. It can also address the problems the nationality thesis faces in reconciling its account of motivation with the moral diversity that is constitutive of pluralist societies.

Résumé. Dans l'après-guerre, au moment de la formation des Etats-providence, la mise en place et la justification des politiques social-démocrates s'appuyèrent en grande majorité sur la théorie de T.H. Marshall à propos du rôle joué par les droits sociaux dans l'intégration civique. Cette approche a été actualisée par des théoriciens égalitariens tels que John Rawls. Les politiques actuelles de restructuration de l'Etat-providence ont provoqué la multiplication d'un certain type de critiques soulignant les insuffisances de cette approche institutionnelle du lien social en termes de ressources motivationnelles. Cet article examine l'une ces critiques, formulée par David Miller dans sa théorie sur la nationalité. Miller soutient que la citoyenneté “pure” repose sur l'intérêt personnel et qu'elle ne peut justifier qu'une redistribution minimale, lorsque les différences engagées sont manifestes. Pour affirmer leur autorité, les Etats-providence ont besoin d'être fondés sur des liens prépolitiques et soutenus par les rapports de solidarité d'une nationalité commune. A l'encontre de la position défendue par Miller, on avancera que la citoyenneté possède de façon effective une dimension qui est à la fois morale et motivationnelle. En outre, elle est à même d'affronter les problèmes que soulève la thèse sur la nationalité, en réconciliant sa conception de la motivation avec la diversité morale inhérente aux sociétés pluralistes.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 41 , Issue 1 , March 2008 , pp. 169 - 186
Copyright
© 2008 Canadian Political Science Association

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