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This chapter charts the relationships between the state and the voluntary sector under the 1997–2010 Labour governments. The period inaugurated a new stage in the social welfare role of voluntary action, which has developed since the nineteenth century from leading provision, through complementarity and supplementarity with regards to state welfare programmes in the twentieth century, and into the partnership seen at the start of the twenty-first century. Charting the various initiatives and institutional innovations of these years, the chapter makes the case for a ‘strategic unity’ amongst all the key agents and agencies, who had a collective interest in maintaining and developing the third sector as a space for policy intervention and forward planning. Overall, it demonstrates the significance of adaptation and renewal within the sector, rather than decline or co-option.

Presents a comparative overview of non-profit or third-sector organizations in a wider welfare policy and civil society context. It addresses the social, economic, and political developments that have made this set of institutions more central to policy debates in developed market economies; in particular, within a broad policy framework known as the Third Way, which, unlike other policy approaches, pays the greatest and most systematic attention to the non-profit sector. The chapter finds that the strength of the Third Way stance toward the non-profit sector is closely related to its weakness: Because its basic perspective towards voluntarism and civil society overlaps significantly with those of neo-liberalism on the one hand, and with approaches in reformed minded post-corporatists countries, its distinct policy thrust is hard to fathom. Indeed, many countries practice some form of ‘third-wayism’ in their search for new policy approaches to modernize the welfare state.

This introductory chapter provides the historical background to the rise of the Big Society, surveying the history of voluntarism over the last century. Politicians and commentators have long bemoaned the supposed decline of civic life, fretting about its health and its future. In fact, the real story of voluntarism over the last hundred years has not been decline, but constant evolution and change. Whether the terms charity, philanthropy, civil society, non-governmental organisations, the third sector or the Big Society are used, voluntary endeavour is one of the most vibrant and dynamic areas of British public life. Voluntarism not only continues to thrive, but is also far larger than any political agenda that may be imposed upon it.

The move towards achieving the information society is not without certain consequences, particularly for government taxation, regional development, and employment. Since some analysts would perceive this investigation to be looking into the ‘impact’ of the previously illustrated socio-economic and technological changes, a specific aspect of these developments is found to be unavoidable and reliant on the ‘best use’ of technological opportunity. Our examination in this chapter draws attention to the implications of the said changes for the development of skills and the growth experienced by employment. We also explore the relations between the development of information infrastructure and the development of the non-profit sector, referred to as the ‘Third Sector’, while also looking into the initiatives in developing new technology applications and how e-commerce requires changes in the tax revenues collection.

The Israeli Third Sector is particularly large and salient within its national context. Yet, despite The sector’s pivotal role in policy making and implementation in various policy realms, this important collective actor was ignored until recently in formal policy analysis and making in Israel. This chapter examines the Third Sector as a target and a participant in policy analysis processes. The main argument is that since 1999 there has been a change in policy analysis and making towards the Third Sector, which was initiated by Academia and Third Sector policy entrepreneurs, and was only partially adopted by government. In this process, intricate relations and tensions between “insiders” and “outsiders” exist. Academics and some Third Sector actors are clearly outsiders, and are treated like such. Other Third Sector actors, such as the quasi-NGO Zionist institutions and philanthropic foundations, are more deeply institutionalized in the policy networks, and can be defined as outsiders-within.

In New Zealand, during the 1980s and 1990s, the neoliberal ideological drivers of policy resulted in the creation of the purchaser-provider split and the rise of the culture of contracting. These developments had implications for the shape of third sector health organisations at the time. This chapter explores the emergence of organisational adaptation and resistance as two responses to changes in the policy environment among third sector health providers. It discusses the relationship between the New Zealand government and the third sector during the 1990s, to further understand the implications of this ‘hurricane’ for third sector health organisations. It argues that organisational characteristics change with the life cycle of the organisation and the involvement of key individuals, both internally and externally. The functions of third sector organisations have been romanticised both in academic literature and by the state, and these ideals are challenged by the mechanisms of a neoliberalising state. This chapter focuses on New Zealand's third sector health organisations and how they represent a changed landscape of provision. It also focuses on the culture of contracting which fundamentally changed the relations between the third sector and state, and on the voices of some of those most closely involved in the sector itself, organising the narratives around the themes of competition, adaptation, and resistance.

This book studies third sectors in different parts of the world. The third sector refers to various types of relief and welfare organizations, innovation organizations, public service organizations, economic development organizations, grassroots mobilization groups, advocacy groups, and social networks. These include civil society organizations, nonprofit organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and formal and informal associations. Building on recent work on the origins, dynamics, and effects of civil society across the globe, this book compares the functions, impacts, and composition of the nonprofit sector for six countries: United States, France, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and China. This introduction explains the book's approach of using institutional logics to study the third sector, offers new theoretical perspectives on how different types of participation can increase generalized trust and state legitimacy, and considers the impact of neoliberalism and the so-called “New Political Culture” on nonprofits. It also discusses the emergence of New Social Movements and how associational politics might fit into the large picture of political life.

This chapter studies the state-third sector partnership frameworks. It considers the argument that the signing of the partnership framework agreements between the third sectors and governments needs to be understood in two ways. First, it should be understood as a shift in welfare administration, and second, it needs to be understood as a step that is usually demanded by the sector. The chapter also argues that the appearance of national-level formal agreements reflects and reinforces the arrival of a new relationship between the welfare states and civil society.

Referring to a study involving four European countries, this chapter assesses the potentials that third-sector initiatives may have for young people who face the risk of exclusion in the transition to the labour market. The question ‘ghetto for the disadvantaged or springboard?’ refers to the vulnerable structure of third-sector organisations, which may curtail these positive potentials, although cross-country comparison shows that this vulnerability may be compensated for by supportive legislation. Rather than acting as a ‘job machine’, the third sector serves as an empowering springboard for young people, due to its informal structures.

One aspect of the governance changes that took place within the public sector in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries has been an increased role for public and user participation in the design, management and evaluation of public services, and a changing role for third-sector organisations. Frequently, the two approaches are closely linked, with third-sector organisations seen as a conduit for the views of users, carers and the public within governance processes. However, the changed role of not-for-profit organisations in public service governance brings with it tensions, many of which are brought into focus by efforts that cast these organisations in the role of conduits for users' views, while at the same time also giving them other, potentially conflicting, roles in managing and delivering services. This chapter examines the threats and opportunities to influential public participation that arise from this situation, illuminating the issues noted in the literature by drawing on insights derived from a longitudinal qualitative study of user involvement in a programme of pilot cancer-genetics services, orchestrated by the charity Macmillan Cancer Support. It highlights the implications of wider changes in welfare governance for service users and activists who seek to carve out a role for user involvement that is influential but also autonomous.

The third sector is located in what has come to be known as civil society, but both the ‘third sector’ and ‘civil society’ have been subject to contestation and changing emphases. This chapter begins, therefore, with discussion of the varying approaches to, and uses of the idea of civil society, with reference to specific socio-political contexts. This is followed by consideration of the issues raised by these different approaches. The second part of the chapter introduces the concept of the third sector and the different terminologies associated with the idea of a third sector organisation. It identifies ambiguities and tensions in the study of the third sector organisations and explains how the concept of third sector organisation is used in the book.

This chapter provides an assessment of the roles that third-sector organisations operating in deprived neighbourhoods have been given in the community-cohesion agenda. It stresses the need to understand the complex nature of the third sector. Data from the New Deal for Communities evaluation is used to challenge some of the assumptions about the nature of diversity and attachment in deprived communities and the contribution of third-sector organisations to foster cohesion. The chapter concludes that there is a need for widening the conceptualisation of community-cohesion interventions to cover all of the contributions which third-sector organisations make within local neighbourhoods.

The introduction sets out the themes of the book, in particular the recent historical and policy context in the UK. It sets out the book’s overall aim of providing a concise and up-to-date overview of the third sector’s role in England’s public services. It provides a detailed definition of the third sector, introducing some of the main theories of the voluntary sector. It goes on to outline the key policy context, particularly the important New Labour partnership era. It also scrutinizes the important state-sector relationship at the heart of public service delivery. Finally, it highlights the contents of the book.

In this chapter, we explore how the changing politics of the third sector under austerity problematises minority women’s intersectional social justice claims in Scotland, England and France. We begin by exploring the ‘governable terrain’ of the third sector in each country since the 1990s. As the principle of a ‘welfare mix’ becomes normalised in each country, the reality of having different welfare providers vying for state contracts seems to prompt isomorphic changes whereby third sector organisations refashion themselves in the image of the private sector as a necessity for survival. We then move on to discuss the impact these changes in the third sector are having on minority women’s activism. We analyse how the idea of enterprise has become entrenched within these organisations and how an enterprise culture is problematically reshaping the ways in which organisations think about their mission, practices and programmes of work—especially in relation to minority women. We conclude with a discussion about what the marketisation of the third sector means for minority women. We argue that political racelessness is enacted through enterprise as minority women’s interests are de-politicised and de-prioritised through the transformation of the third sector.

This chapter investigates the role of civil society and social capital in the formal development of the third sector worldwide. It starts with a brief overview of civil society and social capital and goes on to consider how civil society works as a dynamic force within the entirety of a political and social experience. It then discusses organizations as integrative mechanisms in social life, with particular emphasis on how associational life and civil society are intertwined with themes of social integration, social capital, and generalized trust. It also examines the institutionalization of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and the growth of the third sector in the 1980s and 1990s; the question of effectiveness and evaluation in civil society organizations, especially in the United States; and the tension that arises between the logic of professionalization and other institutional logics such as activism. Finally, the chapter looks at social enterprise as an alternative to the traditional format of the NGO.

Third sector involvement in the delivery of public services has a long history. The chapter traces the history to the 1800s and the establishment of organisations providing key welfare services at a time when public provision was limited. Despite the development of the welfare state in the twentieth century, third sector provision continued. The reforms of the 1980s and 1990s led to further changes in this relationship, with the Conservative government seeking to replace public welfare with private and voluntary providers. Marketisation and contracting were continued by the Labour governments of the early twenty-first century, as part of a more general commitment to revisions in the mix of welfare providers, captured in their notion of the ‘third way’. Labour were proactive in promoting choice and innovation in public service delivery through the involvement of third sector providers, and in supporting them to develop capacity to bid for, and deliver, services.

This book has explored how different cultural, economic, and political backgrounds have given rise to very different third sectors worldwide, especially in terms of state involvement with nonprofit organizations. It has demonstrated how globalization and technological innovations have spurred global convergence on some trends, such as environmental concerns. It has shown that the third sector can offer powerfully positive solutions for political and social life, including service, innovation, advocacy, expressiveness, and community building. To conclude, it discusses four global themes that provide options for consideration by policymakers: third sector interaction with the state; the role of civil society in promoting civic participation; the use of third sector organizations as tools of political legitimacy; and the continuing tensions among the five institutional logics (clientelism, paternalism, bureaucracy, activism, professionalization) as a key part of the ongoing transformation of the third sector.