What Kind of Nonprofit Sector, What Kind of Society?

Abstract

Nonprofit organizations and the nonprofit sector more generally are part of a complex dual transition from industrial to postindustrial society and from national state to transnational policy regimes. This transition shows the beginnings of a new policy dialogue in addressing the future role of nonprofit organizations and involves three broad perspectives that have become prominent in recent years: First, nonprofits are increasingly part of new public management and a mixed economy of welfare; second, they are seen as central to “civil society—social capital” approaches, specifically the Neo-Tocquevillian emphasis on the nexus between social capital and participation in voluntary associations; and third, they are part of a wider social accountability perspective that sees them as instruments of greater transparency, heightened accountability, and improved governance of public institutions.