Something of a consensus, in theory if not always in practice, seems to be emerging within Western democracies (at least) in this regard. Governments have a responsibility to encourage, through such things as fiscal and monetary policy and tax incentives, private sector employment for all its citizens. As a last resort, and especially for hard-core unemployed, government has a respon—sibility to provide jobs for its citizens. In this restricted sense, then, it can be reasonable to claim that people have a right to a job.