Poverty and Social Impact in the Agricultural Sector: Lessons from Experience

This article draws on the donor experience in agriculture‐sector reforms to analyse the contribution of Poverty and Social Impact Analysis (PSIA) to improved rural policy. A decision‐theoretic framework is presented showing that effective PSIAs should target reforms where institutional distortions and uncertainty about key policy parameters are greatest. The framework is applied to nine cases of World Bank‐sponsored PSIAs, and results show that, while they have generally been effective, their impacts can be improved by identifying key uncertainties a priori, better identifying and engaging stakeholders, and improving the integration of quantitative and qualitative components.     

Differences in the Performance of Public Organisations in Ghana: Implications for Public‐Sector Reform Policy

This article uses survey data from Ghana to examine whether there are significant differences in the characteristics of poor and well performing public organisations, and finds that they differ in two respects: remuneration and hiring criteria. It argues that transforming those that perform poorly is, however, more complex than simply addressing these differences: it requires fundamental changes in the cultures of organisations. Recommendations are made for designing comprehensive public‐sector reform strategies that focus on both the enabling environment and achieving cultural change in specific organisations, avoiding a one‐size‐fits‐all approach.     

Security Sector Reform and Development Assistance: Explaining the Diffusion of Policy Priorities among Donor Agencies

This paper employs a world society theoretical framework to examine the recent trend among foreign aid donors to focus on security sector reform as an aid priority. Through a comparative qualitative case study based on interview data collected from aid officials and development workers in Canada, Sweden, and the United States (n = 41) in 2006–2007, this paper finds that the extent to which the security sector reform agenda is integrated into donor policy and programs is mediated by catalytic policy processes linked to intergovernmental organizations and the degree of donor agency autonomy from the rest of government. These findings are used to illustrate how common processes of globalization in world society shape similar approaches to foreign aid among donor agencies despite disparate domestic contexts. These processes lead to convergence of donor policy around security issues and at the same time can account for decoupling of practice from world society policy models.     

The Role of the Economic Sector in the Provision of Care to Trusting Clients

With implications for senior care as well as child care, this article compares for‐profit and nonprofit dependent‐care facilities in areas of service that are not readily visible to consumers. Findings gleaned from the child‐care industry indicate that nonprofit facilities provide a higher quality of service on professionally identified variables than do their for‐profit counterparts. For‐profit directors were more likely to implement cost efficiencies that were not immediately apparent to clients. Despite this, significantly more of the for‐profits were displeased with their financial situation than were their nonprofit counterparts. The study suggests that professional background and training of directors exercises an influence on management satisfaction and decisions, independent of sector.     

Changing Policy Environments in Europe and the Resilience of the Third Sector

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - In the article, we analyse the impact of changing policy environments on the development of the third sector in Europe....     

The Popular Culture of Agricultural Law Reform

This paper applies a reading of the wider theoretical understanding of rural restructuring to the reform of agricultural holdings legislation over the last century. In charting the shifting legal basis of agricultural tenancies in England and Wales, from ‘black letter’ positivism to a more cultural form and system of regulation, the paper theorises that the underlying political imperative has been allied to the changing significance of property ownership and use. Rather than reflecting a long-term desire to maintain the let sector in British agriculture, however, the paper argues that this process has had other aims. In particular, it has been about an annexation of law to legitimise the retention of landowner power while presenting a ‘democratisation’ of farming, away from its plutocratic associations and towards a new narrative of ‘depersonalised’ business.     

Legitimacy and the Role of UK Third Sector Organizations in the Policy Process

This paper explores the legitimacy of third sector organizations in the policy process in the United Kingdom. It draws on empirical research to examine how legitimacy is defined, both by third sector organizations and by those they target within government. The paper argues that while many third sector organizations give high priority to political forms of legitimacy—in the sense of participatory structures and accountability to members and beneficiaries—government is generally more likely to give priority to technical forms of legitimacy, e.g., the quality of research and the ability to implement policy. Nonetheless, political legitimacy is still important, first because this is the form of legitimacy that third sector organizations claim for themselves and second because, as government gives way to governance with an increase in partnerships and collaboration, the dilemmas faced by third sector organizations in achieving political legitimacy are being faced on a broader canvas.     

Internet Resources on the Nonprofit Sector for Social Policy Research

Abstract

UNMAKING GOLIATH: COMMUNITY CONTROL IN THE FACE OF GLOBAL CAPITAL. J. DeFillippis. New York: Routledge, 2003. 208 pp. Hardcover. $125.00. ISBN: 0415945240. Reviewed by Judith M. Dunlop     

The Impact of the Conservative Protestant Movement on Social Policy

This article presents an analysis of the impact of the conservative Protestant movement on social policies of particular interest to the social work profession in the United States. In the light of the success of conservative Christian groups, suggestions for policy praxis are offered to promote progressive social policies.     

Beyond the Crossroads: Policy Issues for the Philippine Nonprofit Sector

The Philippine nonprofit sector, including nongovernmental organizations, have enjoyed an enabling and facilitative state environment since the People Power Revolution of 1986. It currently faces a legitimacy challenge in terms of its ability to represent the people, to be accountable to them, and to show its autonomy and difference from the state. It also confronts the challenge of how it can deliver services more effectively as it expands and professionalizes. Raising resources through government, philanthropy, and income generation also continue to be major challenges.     

The Impact of the Economic Transition in Poland on Vulnerable Populations

The economic changes that began with the fall of communism in 1989 have helped Poland to establish one of the strongest economies in Eastern Europe today. Not all parts of society have benefited equally from the positive economic picture however. Those who are unemployed, living on a pension, single parents, or residents of rural communities are at risk of living in poverty in Polands new economic environment. This paper assesses the views of people in these four groups in terms of their perceived need for basic necessities (money for food, rent, and medicine) and for luxury activities (culture, relaxation, and education). The findings have implications for social welfare policies and services in Poland.The authors wish to thank Kazimierz M. Slomczynski for use of the POLPAN data.