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Tacit Conditionality: The Digital Citizenship Prerequisite and the Transformation of Social Rights
Abstract
This article examines the structural effects of the digitalization of public services on social rights within the framework of social policy theory, proposing the concept of "digital citizenship prerequisite" to conceptualize this process. The central argument is that the transfer of public services to digital platforms silently erodes the universality claim of the welfare state (not through legal means but in practice), producing a tacit re-commodification process by conditioning access on digital capacity, without directly privatizing decommodified services. As internet connectivity, smart devices, and digital literacy become de facto prerequisites for exercising social rights, the groups least equipped with digital capacity (those with low incomes, limited education, older age, or rural residence) face structural exclusion from services designed to protect them from market dependence. The article constructs its theoretical framework around Marshall's theory of social citizenship, O'Connor and Gough's class-based welfare state analyses, and Esping-Andersen's decommodification typology. The analytical originality of the concept is demonstrated through systematic differentiation from the digital divide, digital stratification, and conditionality literatures. Four operational criteria are proposed for empirical identification of the prerequisite, alongside institutional design principles to address the mechanisms through which tacit re-commodification operates. The Turkish welfare context illustrates how digitalization interacts with a structurally limited decommodification capacity.
Keywords
References
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Details
Primary Language
English
Subjects
Labor Economics and Industrial Relations
Journal Section
Research Article
Authors
Publication Date
September 27, 2026
Submission Date
March 25, 2026
Acceptance Date
June 30, 2026
Published in Issue
Year 2026 Volume: 10 Number: 3
APA
Ertuğrul Yılmazer, I. U. (2026). Tacit Conditionality: The Digital Citizenship Prerequisite and the Transformation of Social Rights. Politik Ekonomik Kuram, 10(3), 932-949. https://doi.org/10.30586/pek.1915838
AMA
1.Ertuğrul Yılmazer IU. Tacit Conditionality: The Digital Citizenship Prerequisite and the Transformation of Social Rights. Politik Ekonomik Kuram. 2026;10(3):932-949. doi:10.30586/pek.1915838
Chicago
Ertuğrul Yılmazer, Işın Ulaş. 2026. “Tacit Conditionality: The Digital Citizenship Prerequisite and the Transformation of Social Rights”. Politik Ekonomik Kuram 10 (3): 932-49. https://doi.org/10.30586/pek.1915838.
EndNote
Ertuğrul Yılmazer IU (September 1, 2026) Tacit Conditionality: The Digital Citizenship Prerequisite and the Transformation of Social Rights. Politik Ekonomik Kuram 10 3 932–949.
IEEE
[1]I. U. Ertuğrul Yılmazer, “Tacit Conditionality: The Digital Citizenship Prerequisite and the Transformation of Social Rights”, Politik Ekonomik Kuram, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 932–949, Sept. 2026, doi: 10.30586/pek.1915838.
ISNAD
Ertuğrul Yılmazer, Işın Ulaş. “Tacit Conditionality: The Digital Citizenship Prerequisite and the Transformation of Social Rights”. Politik Ekonomik Kuram 10/3 (September 1, 2026): 932-949. https://doi.org/10.30586/pek.1915838.
JAMA
1.Ertuğrul Yılmazer IU. Tacit Conditionality: The Digital Citizenship Prerequisite and the Transformation of Social Rights. Politik Ekonomik Kuram. 2026;10:932–949.
MLA
Ertuğrul Yılmazer, Işın Ulaş. “Tacit Conditionality: The Digital Citizenship Prerequisite and the Transformation of Social Rights”. Politik Ekonomik Kuram, vol. 10, no. 3, Sept. 2026, pp. 932-49, doi:10.30586/pek.1915838.
Vancouver
1.Işın Ulaş Ertuğrul Yılmazer. Tacit Conditionality: The Digital Citizenship Prerequisite and the Transformation of Social Rights. Politik Ekonomik Kuram. 2026 Sep. 1;10(3):932-49. doi:10.30586/pek.1915838