Irresponsible citizens? New Labour, citizenship and the case of non-payment of local taxation

Abstract

This article engages with the debate about citizenship and responsibility by drawing on the experience of citizens whose voice is rarely heard in that debate. The article draws on a study of a specific citizenship obligation, the payment of local taxation, and in particular interviews with people who had failed to pay local tax -a group who could potentially be characterized as 'irresponsible citizens'. From the perspective of these citizens the experience of paying local tax raises issues not about a deficit of responsibility but insecurity and the struggle to make ends meet. The examination of local tax and citizenship also raises issues about what will be described as the unequal distribution of obligation under New Labour. The article concludes by arguing that what is highlighted is the need for consideration of responsibility in relation not just to poor citizens but to all citizens, and in particular those with higher incomes.

Responsibility and the Deliberative Citizen: Theorizing the Acceptance of Individual and Citizenship Responsibilities

“…As in the case of Orton (2004) and Rowlingson (2002), the findings here point to a continued effort on the part of individuals to accept their responsibilities. In their discussions of their responsibilities, the research participants drew on various relationships with social norms.…”

“…Like a number of studies (Rowlingson, 2002;Orton, 2004;Williams, 2004), this study is situated against a background in which the emphasis on individual obligations is set within a general sense that there is a deficit of responsibility in society (see, for instance, Fevre, 2000). As in the case of Orton (2004) and Rowlingson (2002), the findings here point to a continued effort on the part of individuals to accept their responsibilities.…”

The Age of Austerity: Contesting the Ethical Basis and Financial Sustainability of Welfare Reform in Europe

“…Rather than provision for the common good, this is of benefit to the individual and the best means through which to secure particularised welfare. By implication, individuals are made accountable for their actions by withdrawal of entitlement if behaviour defined as responsible does not accompany it (Orton, 2004). A principle of exchange then for 'consumer citizens' amounts to a principle of fairness: if an individual has put into the system then they are entitled to get something out.…”

Understanding the exercise of agency within structural inequality: the case of personal debt

“…The study 2 on which this article draws was of one particular type of debt; non-payment of local taxation. The current system of local taxation in Britain is council tax, and I have previously argued (Orton, 2004) that council tax debt is a particularly illuminating form of debt to study. In contrast to other types of debt (e.g.…”