Conditionality as a Principle and Policy Instrument: Assumptions, Discourses, and Processes of Legitimation

Conditionality, namely the principle according to which the fulfilment of a need through any form of public intervention is dependent on adopting certain behaviours, has become a widely accepted and almost taken-forgranted feature in many welfare schemes. This is particularly relevant in income support programs. However, conditionality is not merely a “tool” within policy design. Since the mid-1980s, it has evolved into a guiding principle for public action. Building on this significant rise, the article examines the various rhetorical frameworks and narratives – often shared between social workers and income support recipients – that are employed to justify conditionality in its implementation. By analyzing these narratives through the distinction between arguments based on principles of justice and those centered on effectiveness, the study reveals not only the diversity of legitimizing discourses but also how they can be reframed to support critical perspectives. Such critiques, however, generally address the specific forms that conditionality takes in practice, without questioning the principle itself.