ABSTRACT
The Swedish Act concerning Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments (LSS) is an exceptional welfare reform with a strong citizen focus. The Administrative Procedure Act strengthens the potential of LSS to diminish power gaps through its new citizenship perspective. The chapter is based on material from the applications of five adults receiving LSS supports who were referred to the researcher in her capacity as a disability rights researcher and activist after they lost their support. Methodologically the report is inspired by participatory research and includes a qualitative content analysis of the case documents. Different themes are identified that relate to the behaviour of frontline and senior bureaucrats, and are discussed in relation to the legal foundation. The bureaucrats use different restrictive strategies that diminish applicants’ access to support. The consequence is that the foundation for the final decision, the exercise of authority, is not legally certain, with negative effects for applicants.
