Voluntary organisations and the welfare state: the case of Norway

Taking as the point of departure the political-ideological and fiscal ‘crises of the welfare state’, this article emphasises recent changes in the relationship between voluntary organisations and the public sector in Norway, changes that open up new space for the voluntary sector both ideologically and as a service producer. We question whether voluntary organisations are able to cope with new and extensive welfare problems within the more decentralised welfare state. Do they express the values, and do they possess the resources that both governmental agencies and the organisations themselves take for granted? As part of that discussion, the article questions the dominant view within the literature, namely that Scandinavia has a very weak voluntary sector. We argue that ‘state-friendly’ Norway has a rather strong voluntary sector, that this sector is of a specific type, and that both of these factors have important theoretical implications not only for Scandinavia, but for an overall understanding of the voluntary sector.     

The role of voluntary social welfare organisations in Norway: a democratic alternative to a bureaucratic welfare state?

Taking as a point of departure the postulated political-ideological and fiscal ‘crisis of the welfare state’, this article emphasises recent changes in the relationship between the four sectors of welfare providers: the informal sector of the family or community; the for-profit sector — where social goods are offered by profit-seeking institutions; the formalised sector of voluntary organisations; and the public sector of statutory bodies. Discussion is concentrated on the changing relationship between the voluntary and public sectors. Are voluntary organisations able to cope with new and extensive welfare problems within a more decentralised welfare state? Do they express the values, and do they possess the resources that both governmental agencies and the organisations themselves take for granted?     

The voluntary sector in ‘the information society’: a study in division and uncertainty

At a time of rapid social, political and economic change in Britain, voluntary and community groups are being encouraged to assume a more prominent role in general welfare provision. Accordingly, their need to know has never been more acute. Yet the information environment of the voluntary sector is also in a state of flux and transition. Profound changes in the institutional world of information provision hold significant implications for the way voluntary and community groups seek and disseminate information. In this paper these structural changes are outlined and the findings presented of an extensive investigation into information needs and usage in the voluntary sector.     

Ideology and welfare in the UK: the implications for the voluntary sector

The UK has, over recent years, moved from a welfare state to a more market-oriented system of welfare. But the extent of this change has varied considerably according to the ideological position of local government in different parts of the country. This makes it possible within one country to assess the implications for the voluntary sector of different models of welfare. This article develops a framework for looking at different welfare ideologies and the values they espouse, with reference both to the UK and to the models that exist in other countries. It then takes four examples of UK local authorities which demonstrate the different models and examines the implications for the voluntary sector. In doing so, it examines the prospects for the voluntary sector to deliver both service and political pluralism in the future.     

Service Delivery and Civic Engagement: Disability Organizations in Northern Ireland

In the United Kingdom, the New Labour administration that came to power in 1997 has promoted two models of partnership between the state and the voluntary sector. The civic engagement model is based on the renewed interest among governments in the potential of voluntary organizations to contribute to the civic engagement of citizens. In the service delivery model, voluntary organizations are recruited to the task of delivering core social services. Drawing on data from disability-related voluntary organizations in Northern Ireland, this paper illustrates the impact of the service delivery partnership model on the development of voluntary action in the welfare field, and the relative paucity of resources allocated to participatory voluntary action and civic engagement. The consequent impact on the development of partnerships between the state and the voluntary sector is discussed.     

Small Voluntary Organisations in Britain’s ‘Big Society’: A Bourdieusian Approach

This article discusses some potentially harmful consequences of the Big Society agenda for small voluntary organisations, using a theoretical framework suggested by the later work of Pierre Bourdieu. I explore the way in which a voluntary self-help group for people with heart disease evolved, as a result of the pursuit of external funding. This paper focuses on the rapid rise of specific kinds of leaders—members with a professional background, relevant skills and an orientation to the group that enabled them to pursue funding opportunities and to gain increasing control despite the opposition of the long-standing volunteers and the founders of the group. I conclude that government policy to enhance the role of the voluntary sector in the delivery of welfare services may encourage certain kinds of leaders to become powerful in small voluntary organisations. This may adversely affect their organisational structure and lead members to feel dispossessed.     

Government and voluntary agency relationships

The concept of "voluntary agency" is being radically but almost imperceptibly revised under the press of events in the world of social welfare organization and finance. The term now embraces traditional nonprofit social agencies, proprietary agencies offering similar services often financed by the public sector, social programs financed by industry for its employees, and the family as a primary service provider. This evolution demands a major reconsideration of the new relationship between government and the voluntary agency.     

Voluntary organisations and the social state in the European Community

Accurate comparison of the social welfare systems operating in the twelve countries of the European Community is inhibited by lack of information about the voluntary or non-governmental organisations which form an important element in those systems. This paper summarises available information about the scale and scope of voluntary organisations, and attempts to set them in the context of current policy debates. The changing nature of the family in Europe, the development of mixed economies in the provision of welfare, the functions of NGOs as employers and organisers of volunteering, the future of NGOs after 1992, and in the context of a steadily more open Europe are some of the themes which are preoccupying voluntary organisations in most countries of the Community. The paper refers to the inadequacy of most data on NGOs atnational level and to the consequent impossibility of constructing valid cross-national comparisons.I am grateful to the Department of Social Welfare in Dublin for sponsoring the work on which this paper is based. An earlier version was presented as a background paper at the European ConferencePartners in Progress, jointly organised by the Minister of Social Welfare and the EC Commission in Galway, Ireland, June 1990.     

The place of the natural parents in a foster care programme

The provision of social welfare services by the voluntary sector is largely dependent on government funding. This paper highlights some of the inadequacies of this funding procedure particularly as it affects the quality and conditions of work in the voluntary sector.

There is a place for the employment of an experienced professional as consultant to voluntary agencies for the provision of support and supervision of less experienced workers. Funding for the voluntary sector should provide for this.     

Making Practice Learning Part of Our Core Business: A Case Study of Organisational Change

Implementing the new degree in social work in Britain will require practice agencies to deliver an increased number of practice learning opportunities to students undertaking social work training. Indeed the Practice Learning Taskforce (2004 Practice Learning Taskforce. ‘Making change work for us’. London [Google Scholar]) estimates that, in London, a 70% increase from 2002/3 to 2006/7 will be needed. In order to achieve this practice agencies are being urged to transform themselves into learning organisations. Given that social work programmes in many areas are already struggling to find sufficient placements for their students this is likely to be hugely challenging. Research carried out by Lindsay &; Tompsett suggests that, in order to achieve this, social work agencies need to bring planning for practice learning more centrally into the organisation's strategic planning. This paper presents a case study of the author's experience in an English social services department that attempted this. It concludes that practice agencies, in moving towards becoming learning organisations, need to pay attention both to the structural arrangements they develop and the organisational processes involved.     

Chapter 8: AIDS Service Organziations:

AIDS Service Organizations (ASOs) adopted a mission that included advocacy for public policy and private service agency response to the AIDS epidemic, prevention education efforts and provision of personal social services to people with AIDS (PWAs). This mission was shaped by stigmatization and marginalization of PWAs, the inadequate response of governments and health and social service agencies, the developing relationship between ASOs and diverse populations, especially communities of color, and by developments in medical research and treatments for HIV disease. ASOs thus emerged as new contexts of helping and as such had to create organizational structures appropriate for the problems faced, arrange for constructive relationships between helpers and those receiving services, and establish and maintain constructive relationships between the ASO and the larger community. Future challenges facing these new contexts of helping are discussed.     

The Social Exclusion of Disabled Children: the role of the voluntary sector in the Contract Culture

This paper argues that the role played in educational terms by special schools is being mirrored in welfare by voluntary organisations who provide separate services for disabled children. The impact of the Contract Culture is reinforcing this trend so that the imperative in the Children Act 1989 to integrate is being undermined by the growing role of Voluntary organisations as providers, rather than innovators or advocates. The paper draws on previously published research into the changes in social workers roles in relation to child protection, since the Children Act and a previously unpublished case study in a voluntary sector Project.     

A New Agenda for European Charity: Catholic Welfare and Organizational Change in France and Germany

Case study research from France and Germany reveals that Catholic welfare is revising its mission and its methods. Central points are a different approach to voluntary participation, new public relations, and a rearrangement of public-private partnerships. As a result, Catholic welfare has become activated in both countries. While the shrinking of the overall influence of Catholic charity seems inevitable, there is more creative agency, and less programming by the old stakeholders. The national paths of change, however, differ in that Caritas, defending its service approach, is confronted with a process of de-institutionalization while Secours catholique, though giving particular emphasis to voluntary action is entering into further institutionalization.     

British Statutory Sector Partnerships with the Voluntary Sector

Abstract

The boundaries of the welfare state in Britain have shifted considerably since the early 1980s. In the context of a desire to see an expanded mixed economyof welfare, the voluntary and community sectors have been expected to take on, in partnership with the statutory sector, a more active role in the delivery of a range of welfare services. Governmental speeches and policy initiatives in the UK have reasoned that the voluntary sector is cost-effective, offers “added value” to users and statutory sector purchasers, provides high quality services, is adaptable to changing needs and promotes greater user involvement. This article takes a critical look at some of the claims that are often made for service-providing voluntary organizations in the field of community (social) care.     

The Final Instance - Unemployment Insurance Going Private? A Study of a Future Social Security Scenario in the UK and Germany

This paper explores the scope for privatizing unemployment insurance in Britain and Germany. The research builds on two consecutive projects, undertaken in the two countries between 1996 and 2000. The studies investigated people's attitudes towards the welfare state and private insurance, and families' strategies to manage the financial risk of unemployment. About 6% of the working population of both Britain and Germany claimed to possess private unemployment insurance. A further 23% in Britain and 12% in Germany expressed an intention to acquire private unemployment insurance. Attitudes towards private unemployment insurance were influenced by perceptions of unemployment risk, household circumstances, private money management strategies, and perceptions of the welfare state and the efficiency and trustworthiness of its institutions. The risk of exclusion from insurance in the two countries, either voluntary or as a result of actuarial risk assessment, is investigated. There is at present little evidence of adverse selection, nor would an expansion of the private unemployment insurance market necessarily entail that risk. However, the study found some, albeit limited, evidence of moral hazard. Significant country-specific differences were apparent in all aspects of the study.     

Voluntary welfare associations in Germany and the United States: these on the historical development of intermediary systems

This research note presents several comparative theses on the historical development of voluntary and non-profit welfare associations in Germany and the United States. The major argument is that voluntary and non-profit associations in both countries share one common root: the secularisation and socio-political consequences of the enlightenment. However, voluntary welfare associations in Germany and the United States have developed along radically different lines, due to their distinct political embeddedness in society. Following periods of divergence in which the German voluntary action emphasised state orientation, and its American counterpart market orientation, the two countries have entered a new period of convergence.This paper emanates from an ongoing project at the University of Bremen, which analyses the history of social welfare in the city of Bremen. In 1989, as senior fellow in philanthropy at the Institute for Policy Studies of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, I explored the private social welfare system in the United States, in particular comparing the results of former research on Germany with my studies in the United States. I am indebted to Kathleen D. McCarthy (New York), Helmut K. Anheier (Vienna/New Brunswick), Juergen Blandow (Bremen), Lester M. Salamon (Baltimore), Jon Van Til (Camden), Stanley Wenocur (Baltimore), and Manfred M. Wambach (Bremen) for their advice and encouragement. Grants from the Research Commission of the University of Bremen, the Fellowship in Philanthropy Programme of the Institute for Policy Studies, and the German Marshall Fund of the United States are gratefully acknowledged.     

Community welfare organisations in Australia: Activism or industry?

This paper reports on an investigation of the work undertaken by community groups in Australia. Specifically, it highlights the role of community welfare organisations in socio-political contexts undergoing change. Different operating rationalities, corresponding to shifting political and economic imperatives, are examined. An overview of the development of the community welfare sector since 1970 reveals tendencies towards bifurcation and convergence as strategic responses to different socio-political conjunctures. Analysis of the contemporary preoccupation with the rationale of the market indicates a rehearsal of the bifurcation tendencies that characterised the sector in the 1970s. Yet shifts in the organisational relations between the state and the community welfare sector and the appearance of new strategic responses to the operating logics of the market also suggest that it is time for the development of different discursive frameworks in which to think about work in the community welfare sector.     

Co-producing Across Organisational Boundaries: Promoting Asylum Seeker Integration in Scotland

This paper questions whether asylum seeker integration is promoted through inter-organisational relationships between non-profit and voluntary organisations (NPVOs) and government agencies. It focuses particularly on the role of NPVOs in service delivery (co-management) and in the delivery and planning of public services (co-governance). It presents a research study on the public services provided to asylum seekers in Glasgow and asks the following questions: What role do NPVOs play in the planning and delivery of public services? When planning and delivering public services, to what extent do NPVOs work across organisational boundaries and what kind of relationships exist? And in practice, what makes inter-organisational relationships work? This paper offers new empirical evidence and also contributes to the theoretical debate around the integration of asylum seekers.     

Decision-making processes in community transport organisations: a comparative case study of service providers

Transport services provided by voluntary organisations have grown dramatically in recent years. However, little systematic research has been undertaken on the functioning of these organisations. The aim of the research on which this paper is based was to rectify the lack of information on how decisions relating to service provision are made by such organisations — often called community transport (CT) operators. Three organisations were selected for a comparative case study approach. The results show that the leadership approach of their key staff was of particular significance. Each organisation is moving in the direction of greater professionalism and away from its community roots. This cultural change can be attributed to responses to external forces, especially those affecting resources. Evidence suggests they are being forced towards adopting practices of the private sector, but that this need not be the case. Community transport provision is in a period of transition, the outcome of which may radically alter both its structure and its survival capacities.The research on which this paper is based was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. The authors would also like to place on record their thanks to the three organisations who participated in this study.     

Towards an Inclusive Social Policy for the UK: The Need for Democratic Deliberation in Voluntary and Community Associations

In western capitalist societies the state has become increasingly criticized for its inadequacy as a mechanism for distributing welfare inclusively. In particular, it has been criticized for its lack of flexibility in meeting the needs of increasingly plural populations, and for being too distant to enable service users to participate in the meeting of their welfare needs. Consequently, in many countries, including the United Kingdom, voluntary and community associations have been used to distribute welfare with the belief that it can remedy the defects of universal state provision. This paper suggests the voluntary and community sector can only achieve this if the organizations are democratically organized, ensuring participation from staff and users. Moreover, participation should be based around the norms of deliberative democracy. The paper argues that this form of participation will best ensure that the needs, preferences, and interests of subordinate groups are included in social policy delivery, due to the fostering of public reason.