The public sphere denotes a contested participatory site in which actors with overlapping identities as legal subjects, citizens, economic actors, and family and comm u n ity members , form a p u b l ic body and engage in negotiations and contestations over pOlitical and social life (Somers, 1 993, p. 589) .
Introduction
This chapter will consider in detail the arenas for citizenship introduced in Chapter Three, examining the extent to which older people in New Zealand are able to access opportu nities to exercise their citizensh i p . The chapter beg ins by considering some of the attitudinal barriers that mediate the experience of older people as citizens, and goes on to consider the avenues that are available to older people in western societies, and New Zealand society in particular, for participation and the performance of citizenship. Section One discusses the avenues of civil society, and Section Two the community connections through which older people may perform their citizenship.
Public Attitudes to Older People as Citizens
Despite the resonance that citizenship has for many people (Lister, 1 997) , consultation with senior citizens in New Zealand has revealed that they generally feel they are portrayed as a burden on 'society', regarded negatively, treated with a lack of respect and understanding, patronised , stereotyped, labelled and treated like children , and that "their wants and needs are often overlooked or given low priority" (Senior Citizens' Unit, 1 990, p. 22) . Senior citizens have reported feeling "d iscarded and marginalised by our society as being no longer relevant or able to participate in meaningful ways" (Prime Ministerial Task Force on Positive Ageing , 1 997a, p. 1 0) . While the Task Force recommended the adoption of a code of practice to eliminate ageism in the media, this move was not supported by either the Newspaper Publishers' Association or the Broadcasting Standards Authority. Australian research (Minichiello, Browne and Kendig, 2000) has also found that older people as a group are treated negatively, with the health system and health professionals recognised as major sources of ageist attitudes and treatment. It has been acknowledged by New Zealand geriatrician Or Margaret Guthrie (in Gillon, 2001 , p. 38) that many GPs "confuse ageing with illness per se" :
'What do you expect at your age?' is a mindset that prevents them adequately investigating what might well be a treatable illness. It also upsets older people very much. They depart from a consultation feeling hurt and put down in an ageist way.
Health researchers have found that negative stereotypes about ageing can affect physical function in older people, including how fast and how steadily they walk (New Zealand Gp, 1 7 November 1 999) . All forms of ageism can be damaging to older people, but ageism in interpersonal relationships may especially harm an older person 's "self-perceptions and their feeling of safety in the community" (Minichiello et ai, p. 275) . Positive attitudes to ageing and towards older people were identified by Dwyer, Gray and Renwick (2000) as critical to the independence of older people, and ranked in order of importance above income, support with health and disability needs, housing and security, access to transport, recreation, education and use of public amenities, and work. The authors argue that the prevalent view of older people as dependent and as a burden on society is costly in a number of ways. Firstly, in failing to acknowledge or preserve an active and useful role for older people it is blind to the interdependence of all citizens of a society and the transfers of money and support from older to younger generations that keep a community going . It undermines the confidence and assertiveness of older people, and hence their ability to look after themselves and others. It contributes to a sense of isolation , excl usion and depression, accentuating intergenerational divisions, and it leads to services and amenities which do not take account of the needs of older people.
The question is, is this the full story? Is ageism so fundamental to our entire civilisation, as some writers have claimed (de Beauvoir, 1 977; Hazan , 1 994) , that there is little hope of realising the 1 999 Un ited Nations International Year of Older Persons goal of "a society for all ages"? Will older people, as they begin to display in their bodies the visible signs of ageing, have to resign themselves to keeping out of sight in order not to u pset those younger members of society who do not wish to be reminded of their own mortality? When they feel the Fourth Age coming on, will they need to learn to 'grow old gracefully' , recognise that they have ' had their day' and remove themselves quietly and graciously from the mainstream society in order not to be a nuisance? Featherstone and Hepworth (1 993, p. 331 ) have argued that indeed the "d isturbing image of old age as a dirty secret . . . will be difficult to displace from centre-stage".
Citizenship operates to exclude or to include individuals and groups through formal and substantive modes of citizensh i p (Lister, 1 997) . Formal citizenship is an
essential but insufficient condition of substantive citizenship. Racial discrimination, harassment and violence are some of the "exclusionary processes" (ibid, p. 43)
that undermine substantive citizenship for some citizens, including elderly citizens. Social divisions and poverty also erode full citizenship, as do restrictions on mobility, transport and access to build ings and services. When physical or mental health and safety is compromised by poorly maintained footpaths or lack of lighting, or by restricted access to health care, citizenship rights are involved . Older people are discriminated against, for example, when those over 65 (and "housewives") have to wait for surgery while priority is given to "workers" (Hawke's Bay Today, February 21 and 22, 200 1 ) , and when a local newspaper columnist refers to "old-age pensioners . . . who refuse to accept that the nation can't afford them" (Duff in Hawkes Bay Today, June 1 1 , 2001 ) .
While the exclusionary power of formal citizenship i s an issue for some immigrant groups, such as elderly Pacific Island 'overstayers' in New Zealand, for most older New Zealanders, whose legal status as citizens is not in question , it is the social consequences of ageist attitudes that mediate their ability to enjoy full citizenship. For example, many older New Zealanders are subject to fear of violence, which can lead to a loss of freedom and mobility and to a degree of self imposed isolation. Verbal , physical, financial or emotional abuse all have the potential to impinge upon people's rights and to violate the United Nations (1 991 ) principle that older persons should be able to live in dignity and security and be free of exploitation and physical and mental abuse. Each has the potential to erode the substantive citizenship of senior citizens. Taking up the idea that "the lifeworld of citizenship entails a network of performed affiliations - private and public, formal and informal" (Joseph, 1 999, p. 4) , this chapter investigates the possibilities which exist for older people to perform such affiliations and 'enact' their citizenship.
Section One: Civil Society
Lister (1 997) argues, as did Marshal l (1 950) , that the notion of citizenship has potential as an organising principle in that it offers an ideal to which efforts may be directed , and against which progress can be measured . Building on Lister's conception of the public-private divide as a movable political construction which is subject to continuous struggle and negotiation to control its meaning and its location and using Janoski's model of civil society as outlined in Chapter Three, this chapter will examine the myriad complex networks of society to assess the extent to which they afford older people opportunities to exercise their citizensh i p
in and through their relational networks. In order to examine the extent to which the 'instituted processes' (Somers, 1 993, p. 589) of citizenship are available to older people, I begin with a d iscussion of the political institutions in which people may, or may not, participate as citizens. The sections which follow will discuss in turn the labour market, the community and the family, exploring each in order to understand their importance as arenas for the performance of citizenship for older people, especially of the third age.
Participation
Genuine participation may be limited by physiological constraints as well as by limitations on access in an ageist society. For this reason I distinguish here between older people of the Th i rd Age for whom the main l i m itations on participation will be structural , and with whom I am mainly concerned, and those of the fourth age whose physical and mental capacity may constitute major limiting factors in addition to the structural ones.
Research about elderly people and political participation tends to fall roughly into three arenas of national politics (e. g . Levine and Roberts, 1 993; Phillipson, 1 982; Vincent, 1 996; Cutler, 1 983; Binstock, 2000) , local government (e.g . Gee and Glasgow, 2000; Willis, 1 993) , and the environment of community or residential care (e. g . Biehal , 1 993; Abbott, Fisk and Forward , 2000) . The possibilities for participation by older people in each arena will be d iscussed in turn.
Political Activity
The Citizen as Voter
Citizenship as political enfranchisement has become progressively more inclusive, gradually giving almost everyone over the age of eighteen the right to vote in elections, which are held in New Zealand every three years. Although it has generally been considered an obligation of citizenship to exercise one's vote, participation has often been so low that some countries, Australia for example, have introduced legislation that makes voting a legal obligation (Heater, 1 990) . Levels of political participation are influenced by class, with non-voters in New Zealand more likely to be poorer, younger people of Maori or Pacific Island ethnicity (Ministry of Social Policy, 2001 b, p. 58) , divisions which may relate to the perception that the benefits of participation tend to go to those who are already wel l off (Pateman , 1 989) . Political participation is also influenced by age, New Zealand and overseas evidence suggesting that as people grow older they become more rather than less likely to vote (Levine and Roberts, 1 993; Cutler, 1 983) . Voter
turnout rates, which can be seen as indicating levels of citizen involvement in the political process, and trust in political institutions, are high in New Zealand , at around 80 per cent, though this is declining slowly i n line with trends in other DECD countries, and tends to be lowest in provincial cities (Ministry of Social Policy, 2001 b) .
In 1 990 Age Concern called for changes to income support, health, social services, education, transport and the human rights legislation , in the process drawing attention to the capacity of elderly people t6 mobilise their votes on age-related issues (Levine and Roberts, 1 993) . In the 1 999 general election Grey Power promoted older people's issues, particularly superannuation and health , and then celebrated the election of the Labou r-Alliance coalition and the "break with the treachery and opportunism" of the previous Government (Grey Power Magazine, December, 1 999, p. 3) . As Levi n e and Roberts ( 1 993) note , the issue of superannuation is likely to emerge as a major election issue whenever its continuity (and adequacy) is in doubt. The influence of older voters may increase as both the number and the proportion of older people in the population continue to g row, and increase sharply in the first half of the 21 st century, reaching 25 per cent or well over a million people, by 2051 (Statistics New Zealand , 1 997, p. 1 4) . In summary, although any sense of political equality is largely an illusion , with electoral participation varying accord ing to socioeconomic status and age, voting offers old people an active, but extremely limited form of political participation. The Active Citizen
The right of older people to form movements or associations of older people is affirmed in Principle Nine of the United Nations Principles (Age Concern, 2000, Appendix Five) , and indeed a long philosophical tradition affirms the value of citizen participation in civic and public affairs. This is because participation "affirms d ig n ity and self-respect ; it develops p o l itical and m o ral awareness and responsibility; it develops community cohesion ; and it empowers communities, community groups and individuals to pursue their own interests and to challenge existing power structures" (Abbott, Fisk and Forward, 2000, p. 327) .
Since the late 1 960s there has been increasing recognition of forms of political action beyond the limited and occasional exercising of the right to vote for elected
•
representatives. In particular, Forgie, Cheyne and McDermott (1 999, p. 7) note "the growing influence of new social movements and consumerism (which) have seen recourse to more direct action such as petitions, marches, rallies, boycotts,
strikes and demonstrations" , all struggles which have contributed to a proliferation of political 'spaces' and, more fundamentally, a renegotiation of citizenship. The evidence of such movements suggests that social wellbeing derives "not merely from familiar forms of security and support (such as income, health care, and access to tertiary education) but also from the health of democratic structures and processes" (ibid) . Initiatives mounted by older people themselves, such as the Gray Panthers in the United States, have offered a model for collective political action against a broad range of ageist attitudes and policies (Bytheway, 1 995) . Arguing that material and social factors which mitigate against political participation will be outweighed by the sheer numbers of older people in the future, Phillipson (1 982) has predicted that political action by older people in Britain will become increasingly common, and will be based on a broader range of issues, with the pensioner organisations of the future drawn either along class lines, for example related to superannuation issues, or single issue campaigns around issues like health and education facilities, which would attract a broad coalition of support. In America the demographic changes which will produce larger numbers of better educated old people are expected to lead to an increasingly important role for age in political affairs (Cutler, 1 983) . In New Zealand the appointment of a Minister for Senior Citizens in 1 990 identified the needs of older people as a substantive policy area. Despite a perceived age disparity between the politicians making policy and the people "consuming" it (Levine and Roberts, 1 993) , there have been signs of a broadening agenda among those promoting the interests of elderly people, Grey Power's criticism of the sale of state-owned assets being one example.
However, in New Zealand at least, predictions of greater political participation in the future may be compromised by socioeconomic factors. A recent report (Fergusson et ai, 2001 , p. 5) found that while most older people had relatively few material restrictions and difficulties:
the person most at risk of poor living standards was characterised by a mix of low income, no savings, high accommodation costs, a history of economic stress, being younger (aged from 65 - 69 years) , being of Maori or Pacific ethnicity, and having held a low-status occupation.
The implications of these findings for the fllture are that more older people will be poorer than current generations of older people and the experiences of their generational cohort will have reinforced the notion that political participation, even in its weakest form of voting every three years, is not worth their while.
The language and values of citizenship are increasingly influential in shaping theory in the politics of various social movements in the United Kingdom (Lister, 1 997) . Citizenshi p as a process in which active engagement in the struggle to extend or defend rights is as important as the substance of the rights themselves combines elements of the participatory republ ican and li beral-social rig hts traditions of citizensh ip, with the notion of h uman agency providing the link between them (Lister, 1 997) . The two different approaches to citizenship reflect different emphases on the individual and the community. Liberals argue that individual freedom is the core attribute of a democracy (Forgie et ai , 1 999) and that every citizen should have equal formal civil and political rights. In this approach social rights equate to equal opportunity, with welfare assistance available in the event of misfortune (Cheyne et ai, 2000) . Civic republicanism , on the other hand, emphasises political participation for the common good and represents a demanding conception of citizenship as obligation, in which citizens transcend the interests of their own particular group by engaging in collective political activity (Lister, 1 997) . The American Gray Panthers have taken this approach in fig hting against discrimination against both young and old and for a society which includes people of all ages (Bornat et ai , 1 985) . In New Zealand the Grey Power movement seems to have aligned itself much more closely with the liberal rights tradition, showing little interest in an intergenerational approach . In summary, older people are more likely than people of other ages to vote, and in New Zealand they have an advocate at ministerial level in the Minister for Senior Citizens. Levels of political participation are predicted to rise as the population ages, but this wil l depend u pon the socioeconomic status of senior citizens in the future. Another arena in which older people may gain more power with greater numbers is that of health and social services.
Senior Citizens as Service Users and Service Providers
In public services driven by market models participation has been defined as consumer choice, with service users regarded as consumers who will benefit from competition between a range of providers (Biehal, 1 993) . Yet old people who are the recipients of community or residential care services can not be equated with consumers of commercial services because they are seldom in a position to "take their custom elsewhere" (ibid, p. 444) . People in the third age are also major voluntary providers of formal and informal support services to other older people.
Lister (1 997) has proposed that an emphasis on user involvement in welfare services, both statutory and voluntary, brings together a rights-based notion of citizenship as status and a complementary u nderstanding of citizenship as practice. Greater user involvement in decision making in the context of community care can be a strategy for helping to ensure that users are treated in a way that offers them full and equal, rather than d ifferent and limited , citizenship (Biehal, 1 993) . Policy statements setting out user rights need to be backed up by specific strategies for user participation in decision-making to make any difference in practice. Access to information, both information about services and information that is held about individuals themselves, is an important part of the process: failure to provide adequate information to users may limit participation and serve as a covert means of rationing services. Also important, and complex, is the definition of need, commonly imposed by professionals to correspond with existing services. Barriers to participation can occur at both the individual and the structural level, arising from a reluctance by workers to encourage participation, from the low expectations of service users themselves, and also from resource rationing imposed by budget constraints (ibid) .
Although only a small minority of third age people l ive in residential settings at present, it is an option that increasing numbers of retired people are choosing.