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What Kind of Nonprofit Sector, What Kind of Society?

Comparative Policy Reflections

University of California, Los Angeles

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.

Key Words: nonprofit organization • civil society • social capital • accountability

American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 52, No. 7, 1082-1094 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0002764208327676


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