Marc SADOUN - The Individual and the Citizen

Pouvoirs n°94 - L’État-providence - septembre 2000 - p.5-17

While striving to preserve a minimal degree of equality and to guarantee social ties, the welfare state must accommodate exclusion and accept the idea of distributing financial compensations without expecting anything in return. Thereby it does not garantee the organized competition between the elector and the elected official which forms the basis of representative democracy. Because of this feature, it is at odds with the liberal tradition, and it is also in contradiction with republicanism, which is based on the notion of an active citizenship. Dealing with the individual rather than with the citizen, the welfare state reinforces the mishaps of public opinion democracy. Résumé

Référence électonique : Marc SADOUN, "The Individual and the Citizen", Pouvoirs, revue française d’études constitutionnelles et politiques, n°94, 2000, p.5-17. Consulté le 17-02-2012. URL : http://www.revue-pouvoirs.fr/The-Individual-and-the-Citizen.html