Nonprofit-government relations: The public policy and advocacy perspectives 2 Nonprofit organizations ̶What are nonprofit organizations? ̶Functions ̶Social capital ̶Economic role ̶Religious role ̶Service ̶Policy ̶Advocacy ̶Global importance ̶Interactions with the state – very different environments simultaneously, different stakeholders, very complex, dynamic shifts ̶ ̶ NNO-government relations –Legal perspective –Public policy perspective –Advocacy perspective NNO-government relations –Legal perspective –Public policy perspective –Advocacy perspective Public policy perspective Public policy perspective –Embeddedness in welfare state arrangements –Main question: To what extent governments and public administration cooperate with NPOs? –Different models of nonprofit-government relations –Four-C model (Najam, 2000) –A triangular model (Young, 2000) –Social origins (Salamon and Anheier, 1998) – – – – Public policy perspective –Embeddedness in welfare state arrangements –Main question: To what extent governments and public administration cooperate with NPOs? –Different models of nonprofit-government relations –Four-C model (Najam, 2000) –A triangular model (Young, 2000) –Social origins (Salamon and Anheier) – – – – Four-C model Goals Similar Dissimilar Means Similar Cooperation Co-optation Dissimilar Complementarity Confrontation –Based on institutional interests and preferences for policy ends and means –2 main hypotheses 1) NPOs constitute a distinct institutional sector with particular motivations and structural preferences 2) NPOs have an abiding interest in public policy A triangular model Screenshot 2017-11-23 00.09.55.png –Refers to economic theories of NPOs –Refers to NPOs as service providers Refers specifically to economic theories of nonprofit organizations Based on the underlying assumption that output improvement (particularly of social service delivery) constitutes the core rationale for government-nonprofit sector relations Refers to NPOs as service providers Social origins model Nonprofit scale Low High Government social welfare spending Low Statist Liberal High Social democratic Corporatist –Focus explicitly on broader social and political relationships – Advocacy perspective Advocacy perspective –How and to what extent citizens make use of the public sphere by engaging in civic activities? –Whether and how civil society organizations give citizens a voice and provide avenues for a political participation? 1.NPOs mediate/facilitate civic participation 2.NPOs engage in public-interest advocacy activities – Social movement theory argument –Civil society and the state are deeply intertwined, but also have conflictual relationship –Social movements as informal networks created by a multiplicity of individuals, groups, and organizations, engaged in political or cultural conflicts on the basis of a shared collective identity (Diani 1992) – Social movement theory argument II –A relationship cycle: 1.SMO translates private into public concerns 2.SMO gives impetus for the creation of NPO 3.Succesful NPO influences government policy 4.Government responds by directly addressing the issue or funds nonprofits 1. Nonprofit addresses public concerns and tries to influence again –Examples of such successful movements? Public interest advocacy –Public interest = NPO’s crucial civic function –Goal: To influence government decisions; to influence government policy (not to govern); or to encourage political participation –Voicing a broader set of public interests –Ideal vs. reality – – – Adobe Systems 16 Are major civil society organizations (CSOs) routinely consulted by policymakers on policies relevant to their members? Adobe Systems Advocacy ̶Why should NPO participate in policies and policy-making? Reasons to advocate? ̶Targets of advocacy activities? ̶ What affects advocacy –Declining civic engagement –Government regulation –Growing business competition –Public perception –Elite discourse Public perception and elite discourse –How is civil society organizations (CSOs) and NPOs framed by the political elites? –What is a public image of CSOs? –In CEE: Recent political developments in contemporary democracies suggest that civil and political actors are undergoing significant transformations, post-1989 (neo)liberal consensus have been openly questioned and criticized by the new political actors – – NPOs as the enemy of the people –CSOs = NPOs, human rights/liberal organizations –By populists often framed as „agents of neomarxism and liberalism“ threatening the nation and its culture (in Central and Eastern Europe) –Puppets of foreign interests (Soros and his ‘plan’) – the case of Central European University –HUN/POL: „government-friendly“ (conservative) or oppositional (liberal) CSOs – governments organized campaigns againts CSO –CZ: “ngo-ism” (Václav Klaus) – – – – – Adobe Systems 21 Legal environment Source: 2017 CSO Sustainability Index Hungary – “on the transparency of organizations supported from abroad” – “foreign funded” organizations Strongly biased public funding of CSO Poland – centralized supervision body (2017) Czech Republic – discoursive threats to limit public funding Adobe Systems 22 Does the government attempt to repress civil society organizations (CSOs)? Adobe Systems 23 To what extent does the government achieve control over entry and exit by civil society organizations (CSOs) into public life? Adobe Systems 24 Public image of CSOs Source: 2017 CSO Sustainability Index Adobe Systems 25 Trust in non-profit organizations (CZE) Nonprofit responses –Have had to become more sophisticated –Created more complex organizational structures –Take advantage of new technologies – Internet activism fundamentally altered civic participation and advocacy –Invested in effective research –Increasingly turned to collaborations, including some with business organizations Forms: How to advocate? –Lobbying (direct, grassroots, administrative) –Research and analysis –Education of the public on crucial issues –Legal advocacy in the courts –Media –Social media: „Tweeting social change“ –Public events and direct action (calls for boycotts and demonstrations) –Expert testimony (testifying before governmental bodies) –Talks with governments –Petition letters, participation in referenda or initiative campaigns –Grassroots organizing and communication with local leaders – Public funding and its impact on nonprofit advocacy •Relationship between public funding and nonprofit engagement in advocacy (Neumayr at al. 2015) •2 main lines of the argument: •Resource dependence theory: NPOs that receive public funding will eventually reduce their advocacy activities or even refrain from them altogether for fear of losing their funding •NPOs who receive public funding will increase their engagement in advocacy So does it affect…? •Empirical studies: mixed results, mostly on US •E.g. Austria (Neumayr at al. 2015) §No significant relationship between advocacy and the receipt of public funding or the proportion of an organization’s total revenue coming from public funding §The degree to which nonprofits engage in advocacy is influenced by the geographic range of operation and field of activity • Citizen Lobbying: How Your Skills Can Fix Democracy By Alberto Alemanno (at TEDxBrussels) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqNf2OPdu8c Going the Digital Route By Marci Harris, a former congressional staffer, founded Popvox, a non-partisan platform to engage digitally with Congress https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aKyYR-iWpc Advocacy Through Social Media: Why Trending Topics Matter By Karen McAlister (at TEDxUTA) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4sGLLaLq-Q Thank you for participation