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The Dilemma of Clients' Rights in Social Programs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2024

Jack Tweedie
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Abstract

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Courts and legislatures often grant rights to clients of social programs so that the clients can protect their own interests in the programs. Previous research has questioned whether rights provide effective protections for clients' interests. In this study, I examine parental rights of school choice in Britain, showing that rights can provide effective protections for clients' interests under some conditions. However, this study also reveals the dilemma of rights: rights that are effective in protecting individual client interests can also undermine a social program's ability to serve the collective interests of all clients.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 23 , Issue 2 , 1989 , pp. 175 - 208
Copyright
Copyright © 1989 The Law and Society Association.

Footnotes

This article is based on work that I did with Michael Adler and Alison Petch at Edinburgh University for a project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council of Great Britain. I would like to thank Susan Sterett, Shari Diamond, David Chase, and Saundra Johnsen for their help in writing this article.

References

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