This article studies how welfare conditionality affects democratic citizenship. Scholars make diverging predictions because reforms can both impair and stimulate political action. So far, evidence from the US and the UK lends support to the negative claim that conditionality leads to political withdrawal. Whereas prior studies mostly have relied on cross-sectional data, this study offers a more thorough assessment of causality by utilizing a longitudinal design. I exploit local variation for data on policy implementation. Moreover, the study contributes by addressing other issues, such as context sensitivity and policy scope. In contrast to prior work, I study democratic citizenship in a context where the stated requirements and benefits granted in return are described as enabling, and sanctions considered to be lenient. Moreover, I move beyond personal welfare experiences and include welfare recipients’ family members. The analysis indicates that programme effects on political interest and political trust depend on the extent of conditional requirements. Programme effects are mainly negative among claimants and their family members, but the negative effect diminishes and eventually turns positive when conditions extend.

本文研究福利条件如何影响民主公民身份。学者们做出了不同的预测，因为改革既可能损害也可能刺激政治行动。到目前为止，来自美国和英国的证据支持否定性条件导致政治退缩的说法。先前的研究主要依靠横截面数据，而本研究则通过纵向设计对因果关系进行了更彻底的评估。我利用本地差异获取有关政策实施的数据。此外，该研究还通过解决其他问题做出了贡献，例如背景敏感性和政策范围。与先前的工作相反，我在这样的背景下研究民主公民身份，即以回报中规定的要求和利益被描述为有利条件，并且制裁被认为是宽大的。此外，我超越了个人福利经验，并包括了福利接受者的家人。分析表明，方案对政治利益和政治信任的影响取决于条件性要求的程度。程序影响在索赔人及其家庭成员中主要是消极的，但是消极的影响会逐渐减弱，最终随着条件的扩大而变为积极的。