Through case-study research, Majka Ryan offers a systematic microanalysis of discretion in a specific context of residence-based welfare conditionality derived from the labour movement directive 2004/38/EC. The latter is utilised in the coordination of social security benefits for mobile EU citizens across Europe. Ryan reveals that in Ireland and other jurisdictions, official rights, be they supranational or local, when translated into practice are shaped by different political, organisational and decision-making actors, consequently leading to an uneven distribution of substantive rights and unequal outcomes for different groups of people, disproportionately affecting those who must prove their deservingness. This book evidences how residence-based welfare conditions create a context where power is exercised freely by street-level decision-makers and illustrates how that power affects different groups in society, and consequently, how through those practices, the hegemonic discourses around legitimacy of access to public resources are reproduced.

Dr. Majka Ryan is an assistant professor in the Department of Work and Employment Studies at the Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick, Ireland. Majka has led a variety of research projects in the areas of policy implementation, organisational change, access to education and poverty and migration. Her teaching and research interests are in the areas of public institutions, ethical decision-making, discretion as an organisational policy and practice, organisational culture, equality and diversity, employment and unemployment and the welfare state.