Third-sector organizations (TSOs) in Europe have been confronted with profound changes to their regulatory and societal environments. By applying the concepts of “organizational paradoxes” and ...“governance,” we analyze how TSOs have adjusted their governance as a response to these environmental challenges. Based on organizational case studies in France, Germany, and the Netherlands, we argue that TSOs have found multiple ways to address tensions at the organizational level, for example, by mobilizing and combining resources, re-arranging their organizational governance and by adopting new legal forms. These changes have resulted in hybridization and increased organizational complexity that might translate into the emergence of new paradoxes at the organizational level. Therefore, dealing with paradoxes constitutes an ongoing process for TSOs that goes beyond incremental adjustments.
In the article, we analyse the impact of changing policy environments on the development of the third sector in Europe. Based on the results of systematic comparative research in eight European ...countries (Austria, Croatia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the UK), we identify commonalities and differences. In a three-step analysis, we examine policy changes, effects on the third sector and responses by third sector organizations (TSOs) in the social domain. Overall, the third sector in Europe has proven resilient. However, not only have public and private funding decreased, the process for acquiring such funding has become more demanding for TSOs, as have requirements to be accountable. There are signs of a proliferation of more market-based, hybrid organizations. Despite this general trend towards marketization, the impact of policy changes varies across Europe with TSOs being better equipped to adapt and survive in countries where collaborative ties between the state and the third sector have traditionally been strong.
With more than one million people living with HIV, Russia is facing the biggest HIV epidemic in Europe and is one of the few countries in the world where infection rates are increasing. The response ...to the epidemic is shaped by the way Russian state actors and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) view the issue of HIV and how they define policy priorities.
In order to understand the factors that underlie HIV policies in Russia, this contribution analyses the framing of HIV. It thereby makes use of framing theory. Based on document analysis and interviews with NGO experts, the article differentiates between four main framings in Russia: the framing of HIV as a medical issue, as a security threat, as a moral problem or as a human rights concern.
In Russia, the moral framing of HIV has become dominant over the past decade. The epidemic is increasingly viewed as the result of harmful influences from the West which need to be overcome. As a result, Russia has departed from evidence-based approaches to HIV. Instead, it solely focuses on strengthening so-called "traditional values", e.g. by engaging in healthy lifestyle promotion. The moral framing of HIV has also impacted the mobilization potential of Russian NGOs, as it favour those organizations that relate to the dominant framing of HIV and support government priorities.
The Non-profit Sector in Today’s Russia SKOKOVA, YULIA; PAPE, ULLA; KRASNOPOLSKAYA, IRINA
Europe-Asia studies,
06/2018, Letnik:
70, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
In present-day Russia, the government’s approach towards the non-profit sector is in many ways ambivalent and contradictory. The Russian government follows two opposing strategies: it largely ...suppresses independent and potentially critical NPOs, while at the same time co-opting those that function in line with government priorities. The essay analyses the ways in which NPOs have perceived the dual nature of governmental policies and how these policies have affected the non-profit sector in Russia’s regions. The essay argues that, by creating divisions between different types of NPOs, government policies have exerted a negative influence on the internal solidarity of the Russian non-profit sector.
How do nonprofit organizations (NPOs) engage in advocacy in closed political regimes? This article studies nonprofit advocacy in Russia by focusing on strategies and explanatory factors. We argue ...that Russian NPOs rely on collaborative rather than confrontational strategies. They use official channels, personal contact with state officials, strategies for resource exchange and evidence-based advocacy. Based on empirical research in eight regions, we show that nonprofit advocacy depends on both external (contextual) and internal (organizational) factors. NPOs have greater opportunity to engage in advocacy when the subnational institutional context and the policy field allow for their active participation in policy formation and implementation. Moreover, NPOs are more successful in their advocacy when they strategically use their capabilities (e.g., knowledge, expertise and skills) and emphasize mutual trust, loyalty and readiness to compromise. Our findings point to the relevance of collaborative forms of advocacy, particularly in constrained political environments such as Russia.
This article illustrates the development of government-nonprofit collaboration in the Netherlands. It first gives an overview of the scope and structure of the nonprofit sector and voluntary work and ...then explains the crucial steps in the evolution of the partnership arrangement between the public sector and nonprofit institutions. The article describes the past significance of so-called pillarization on the development of the nonprofit sector and its collaboration with the state. In accommodating a broad diversity of nonprofit organizations with different religious and social backgrounds, the Netherlands created an elaborate mechanism for government-nonprofit collaboration in which nonprofit organizations fulfill functions in service delivery and policy formation. However, the sector is now fundamentally fragmented and has little shared identity left today. Paradoxically, its past success also makes it less likely that the Dutch nonprofit sector will be regarded as a solution to current social problems. Cet article illustre le développement de la collaboration entre le gouvernement et les organisations à but non lucratif aux Pays-Bas. Il donne tout d'abord un aperçu de l'ampleur et de la structure du secteur à but non lucratif et du bénévolat et explique ensuite les étapes cruciales de l'évolution de l'accord de partenariat entre le secteur public et les institutions à but non lucratif. L'article décrit la signification passée de ce qu'on appelle la pilarisation dans le développement du secteur à but non lucratif et sa collaboration avec l'État. En accueillant une grande diversité d'organisations à but non lucratif comprenant différentes origines religieuses et sociétales, les Pays-Bas ont créé un mécanisme élaboré pour la collaboration entre le gouvernement et le secteur à but non lucratif, dans lequel ces organisations remplissent des fonctions dans la prestation de services et la formation politique. Toutefois, le secteur est actuellement totalement fragmenté et il lui reste, aujourd'hui, peu d'identité commune. Paradoxalement, son succès passé réduit également les chances que le secteur à but non lucratif néerlandais soit considéré comme une solution aux problèmes sociaux actuels. Dieser Beitrag veranschaulicht die Entwicklung der Zusammenarbeit zwischen der Regierung und dem gemeinnützigen Sektor in den Niederlanden. Er verschafft zunächst einen Überblick über den Umfang und die Struktur des gemeinnützigen Sektors und über die ehrenamtliche Arbeit und erklärt sodann die wichtigen Schritte in der Entwicklung der Partnerschaft zwischen dem öffentlichen Sektor und den gemeinnützigen Institutionen. Der Beitrag beschreibt die frühere Bedeutung der so genannten Versäulung in der Entwicklung des gemeinnützigen Sektors und seine Zusammenarbeit mit dem Staat. In den Niederlanden finden äußerst diverse gemeinnützige Organisationen mit unterschiedlichen religiösen und gesellschaftlichen Hintergründen Platz, wodurch ein komplizierter Mechanismus für die Zusammenarbeit zwischen der Regierung und dem gemeinnützigen Sektor geschaffen wurde, in dem gemeinnützige Organisationen Funktionen in der Dienstleistungsbereitstellung und Politikgestaltung übernehmen. Allerdings ist der Bereich nun grundsätzlich fragmentiert und verfügt heute kaum über eine gemeinsame Identität. Paradoxerweise macht es der frühere Erfolg des niederländischen gemeinnützigen Sektors auch unwahrscheinlicher, dass der Sektor als eine Lösung für heutige soziale Probleme angesehen wird. El presente artículo ilustra el desarrollo de la colaboración de las organizaciones sin ánimo de lucro-gobierno en los Países Bajos. Primero, ofrece una visión general del alcance y estructura del sector de las organizaciones sin ánimo de lucro y del trabajo voluntario y después explica los pasos cruciales en la evolución del acuerdo de asociación entre el sector público y las organizaciones sin ánimo de lucro. El artículo describe la pasada importancia de la denominada "pilarización" en el desarrollo del sector de organizaciones sin ánimo de lucro y su colaboración con el estado. Al dar cabida a una amplia diversidad de organizaciones sin ánimo de lucro con diferentes bagajes religiosos y societales, los Países Bajos crearon un mecanismo elaborado para la colaboración del gobierno-organizaciones sin ánimo de lucro en el que las organizaciones sin ánimo de lucro cumplen funciones en la entrega de servicios y en la formación de políticas. Sin embargo, el sector está ahora fundamentalmente fragmentado y le queda poca identidad compartida en la actualidad. Paradójicamente, su éxito pasado hace también menos probable que el sector holandés de las organizaciones sin ánimo de lucro sea considerado como una solución a los problemas sociales actuales.
This article aims to explore the link between civil society and the public sphere in present-day Russia by studying a recent library reform project in Moscow. In 2013, a comprehensive reconstruction ...of Moscow's network of 448 public libraries was initiated by a group of intellectuals, architects and urbanists. The project team aimed at modernizing Moscow's city libraries by making them more accessible and appealing to the public. The reconstruction gained support from the city administration that sought to strengthen the function of public libraries as cultural and educational institutions and, at the same time, improve the city's image in the eyes of its citizens. The article poses the question of whether this reform has been successful in making Moscow's city libraries more open, accessible and inviting for the public, and whether the reform has contributed to the development of a public sphere in the city by providing new spaces for participation and civic engagement. The article explores the reform process based on interviews with key informants and document analysis. It looks into the project objectives, its implementation process and its legacy. The analysis of the library reform project revealed contradictory results, as the reform did not develop beyond the pilot phase, but was stopped due to fading support from the city administration. Overall, the library reform thus remained an unfinished process. For developing the public sphere, the legacy of the reform project is ambivalent. On the one hand, the project has proved that creating new public spaces in Moscow is possible. On the other hand, it showed that the public sphere remains limited in today's Russia, as civic initiatives cannot develop beyond a cultural niche project. Due to a lack of political support for societal pluralism, a true autonomous public sphere remains beyond reach in present-day Russia.
The collective organization of business interests in Russia is commonly considered weak. In some cases, however, business associations have succeeded in representing interests vis-à-vis the state. ...This article analyses an illustrative case of state-business negotiations regarding an extra profit tax for several chemical and metallurgical companies, proposed by the presidential administration in August 2018. Based on a case study involving media and interview data, the study examines the role of collective action under the auspices of the 'Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs' (RUIE) in defending business interests. It identifies the necessary conditions under which collective action was effective in this specific case, and critically discusses the possible contingency of the given constellation in light of inherently asymmetrical relations between state and business actors. Furthermore, the article develops an analytical framework with which business associations and their lobbying activities under authoritarian capitalism can be analysed beyond the Russian case.
This article discusses the evolution of government-nonprofit relations at the regional level in Russia against the background of national-level restrictions on NGOs. Russia recently also introduced ...supportive policies and the article aims to trace the regional administrations' reactions to the dual realities of the federal government's posture towards nonprofits. Considerable variation was found in regional government-nonprofit relationships as well as deviation from national policy stances. Using a subnational comparative framework, this article addresses a gap in the literature and lays the groundwork for future cross-national comparisons of subnational variations of government-nonprofit relations in other authoritarian and hybrid political regimes.
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