Rights or Freebies? Alternative Imaginations of the Welfare State in the Indian Context

-, Aditi (2025) Rights or Freebies? Alternative Imaginations of the Welfare State in the Indian Context. Administration & Society, 57 (7). pp. 969-998. ISSN 0095-3997

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Abstract

This article examines the impact that competing policy narratives can play in creating different models of citizenship, while anchoring its analysis in the question of welfare and social policy in India. The central argument is that the framing of the welfare narrative as state largesse or fiscal imprudence or an enforceable right is a primary site of political contestation with profound implications for how a policy is designed and the kinds of linkages it creates between citizens and the state. The analysis follows a hermeneutic arc, moving from explanation to understanding. First, it employs the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) to systematically explain the structure of two opposing narratives. Second, it seeks to understand their broader significance by analyzing the competing models of citizenship they promote. The findings reveal how these narratives strategically deploy characters, plots, and causal stories to legitimize distinct policy solutions and cultivate different forms of citizenship. This research offers a dual contribution: it extends the application of the NPF within a novel hermeneutic framework to the welfare state in a non-Western, democratic context, and it provides a structured, interdisciplinary analysis of the ideological underpinnings of social policy discourse in India, offering insights into policy construction and administration.

Item Type: Article
Keywords: social justice | public services | citizenship | welfare state | policy design
Subjects: Social Sciences and humanities > Social Sciences > Social Sciences (General)
Social Sciences and humanities > Social Sciences > Law and Legal Studies
JGU School/Centre: Jindal Global Law School
Depositing User: Mr. Luckey Pathan
Date Deposited: 06 Aug 2025 16:17
Last Modified: 06 Aug 2025 16:17
Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/00953997251357206
URI: https://pure.jgu.edu.in/id/eprint/9941

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