Persuasion, Coalition-Building, and Agenda Setting

Abstract This chapter highlights the importance of agency and coalition-building in expanding the personal scope of social citizenship, through an exploration of the long and complex effort to dismantle durational residency requirements that once denied poor internal migrant citizens in the US access to welfare. Central to this movement was Elizabeth Wickenden, who spearheaded a coalition of reformers including administrators, legal advocates, scholars, and non-profit organizations. Their coordinated strategies—ranging from litigation to political advocacy—ultimately led to the landmark Supreme Court decision in Shapiro v. Thompson (1969), which invalidated exclusionary residence requirements. The chapter also charts the post-ruling resistance from conservative actors, emphasizing the continuing importance of legal mobilization and coalition-building in defending and expanding social rights.