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What kind of nonprofit sector, what kind of society? Comparative policy reflections

from 1 - The nonprofit sector: introductory remarks

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2011

By
Helmut K. Anheier
Edited by
Klaus J. Hopt  and
Thomas Von Hippel
Helmut K. Anheier
Affiliation:
Heidelberg Centre for Social Investment
Klaus J. Hopt
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht, Germany
Thomas Von Hippel
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht, Germany
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Summary

Introduction

In the course of the last decade, most developed market economies in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific have seen a general increase in the economic importance of nonprofit organizations as providers of health, social, educational and cultural services of many kinds. On average, the nonprofit sector accounts for about 6% of total employment in OECD countries, or nearly 10% with volunteer work factored in (Anheier, 2005). While their economic function, particularly in terms of service provision, has been a common, though often overlooked feature of nonprofits in most developed countries (see Salamon, 1995), nonprofit organizations since the 1990s have become subjects of a more complex policy dialogue that involves three broad perspectives:

  1. (1) nonprofits are increasingly part of new public management approaches and what could be called a mixed economy of welfare and development. Expanded contracting of nonprofit organizations in governmental welfare provision, voucher programmes, or client/user empowerment projects are examples of this development.

  2. (2) they are seen as central to civil society approaches, specifically the Neo-Tocquevillian emphasis on the nexus between social capital and economic and social development. Attempts to revive a sense of community and belonging, enhance civic mindedness and engagement, including volunteering and charitable giving, are illustrative of this perspective.

  3. (3) nonprofits are part of a wider social accountability perspective that sees nonprofits as instruments of greater transparency, heightened accountability and improved governance of public institutions. Such mechanisms include citizen advisory boards, community councils, participatory budgeting, public expenditure tracking, and monitoring of public service delivery.

As we will see, the three perspectives make strong and specific claims about the role of nonprofit organizations; while all perspectives occupy key positions in current policy debates across many countries and international institutions, they have major implications that remain somewhat unconnected analytically and reflect different interests and approaches.

Type
Chapter
Information
Comparative Corporate Governance of Non-Profit Organizations , pp. 3 - 19
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

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