Les justifications en faveur de l'allocation universelle : une présentation critique

The universal grant proposal has been championed by many authors. It consists in supplying each citizen with a benefit which is unconditional and can be drawn concurrently to every other resource. This paper builds a typology of the various justifications that have been provided for this proposal, and submits them to a critical examination. Justifications in which a universal grant is a cure for unemployment and thus a way to provide a right to work appear to be weakly-founded. Hence, the only remaining justifications are those for which a universal grant is a way to provide a right to idleness, claim that can be founded legitimate, but whose political credibility is doubtful.