Jeremy Kendall

The voluntary sector : comparative perspectives in the UK

Part 1: Voluntary Sector Inputs and Processes 1. Introduction 2. The Economic Scope and Scale of the UK Voluntary Sector in Comparative Perspective 3. Mainstreaming the Voluntary Sector into the UK Policy Agenda 4. The Horizontal Voluntary Sector Policy Agenda: Initial Implementation Experiences Part 2: Voluntary Sector Impacts and Outcomes Introduction to Part 2 5. Overall Voluntary Sector Impacts: Research and Rhetoric in the UK 6. The Impact of Voluntary Sector Social Housing 7. The Impact of Voluntary Sector Social Care and Support for Older People 8. The Impact of Voluntary Sector Environmental Organisations Part 3: Conclusion 9. Summary and Conclusion: Comparative Perspectives on the Monster

Interpersonal trust and voluntary associations: examining three approaches

The relationship between interpersonal trust and membership in voluntary associations is a persistent research finding in sociology. What is more, the notion of trust has become a central issue in current social science theorizing covering such diverse approaches as transaction costs economics or cognitive sociology. In different ways and for different purposes, these approaches address the role of voluntary organizations, although, as this paper argues, much of this thinking remains sketchy and underdeveloped. Against an empirical portrait of this relationship, the purpose of this paper is to assess such theorizing. We first set out to explicate major approaches to trust in economics, sociology and political science, using the non-profit or voluntary organization as a focal point. We then examine the various approaches in terms of their strengths and weaknesses, and, finally, identify key areas for theoretical development. In particular, we point to the social movement literature, the social psychology of trust, and recent thinking about civil society.

The mainstreaming of the third sector into public policy in England in the late 1990s: whys and wherefores

The voluntary or third sector in England is now receiving more sustained attention from policy makers than ever before. This paper claims that this situation, particularly as given tangible expression through the development of a Compact between the Government and representatives of the third sector, amounts to the mainstreaming of the third sector onto the public policy agenda. It seeks to explain why this has happened in the late 1990s, framed by the “multiple streams” approach of US political scientist John W. Kingdon. The paper draws upon a review of relevant policy and political literature, and interviews with stakeholders in the Government and the third sector, to examine the respective contributions of individual and collective actors in the policy, problem and politics streams.

MEASURING THE PERFORMANCE OF VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATIONS

In the current political and economic climate, there are rapidly escalating demands from public funders and other stakeholders for indicators which can capture the achievements and impacts of the voluntary sector. Having clarified the context of these demands, the primary aim of this article is to develop criteria for measuring the ‘performance’ of voluntary organizations. This is undertaken by marrying relevant international theoretical literature suggestive of their roles and contributions with a ‘production of welfare’ approach, which has a proven track record in the evaluation of human services. Eight domains of performance are suggested (economy, effectiveness, efficiency; choice/pluralism; equity; participation; innovation and advocacy), embracing twenty-two separate indicator sets.

Direct Payments in England: Factors Linked to Variations in Local Provision

Direct payments have moved to the heart of the governments drive for increased user choice. At the same time, implementation has remained disappointing. This article explores the demand, supply and related factors associated with patterns of local variability in uptake and intensity of care package provision. Statistical analyses are conducted for key client groups - people with physical disabilities, older people, people with learning disabilities and people who use mental health services - using data for England from 2000-01 to 2002-03. The results suggest that direct payments variability reflects a complex array of factors, both within and beyond the control of local public actors. In particular, while local policy preferences appear to shape the extent of direct payments growth, the results also demonstrate that understanding levels of activity requires attention to local circumstances.

Editorial: Political ideologies and the third sector

The dominant way of thinking about the relationship between ideologies and organizations located between the market and the state is probably in terms of perpetrator and victim. After all, two of the most conspicuous European political events of the 20th century were the rise and fall of ideologies justifying and exercising the suppression of what we would now label ‘(organized) civil society’. At first sight, the theme of this special issue might look decidedly unpromising for other reasons too. Ongoing processes of ‘modernization’ and ‘technocratic expansion’ seem for many to have a depoliticizing edge, which could be seen as suppressing or even displacing the ideological dimension of debates in the public sphere. There has been much talk of technocratic ‘problem solving’, ‘partnership’ and ‘governance’. All these formulations seem to signify smoothness, cooperation and pragmatism—for many, almost the antithesis of ideology with its connotations of commitment, struggle and confrontation. Moreover, there are enduring conceptual challenges. Each term carries multiple and not necessarily consistent meanings. Most obviously, ideology for some commentators refers essentially to the values and beliefs embedded in sociopolitical systems which are not liberal-democratic in character—especially totalitarian political models. And ideological considerations are now supposedly relatively unimportant in the programmes of the mainstream or centrist political parties which now tend to dominate governments in most of Europe and North America, for example. On the Right, especially in the conservative tradition, a claimed lack of ‘artificial’ ideological content is often taken to be a defining attribute. While on the Left, labourism and social democracy have latterly tended to stress their pragmatic willingness to seek emancipatory goals gradually and ‘realistically’. Yet for others, obviously including those with a Marxist, critical and/or more radical approach, any actual existing system is still always necessarily portrayed as involving ideological presuppositions and assumptions, however much those involved might deny this. This situation is taken to be bound up in complex ways with the capitalist basis of the relevant economic frameworks, and the power relations that necessarily permeate their social structures. Turning to the ‘third sector’ itself, the issue of conceptual boundary setting in relation to the category itself, as well as how it relates specifically to ideology, is problematic too: these meanings are contested, within and across societies. These points of contention are relevant, because, as we will see below, they have implications for the way the link between these organizations and ideology can Journal of Political Ideologies (October 2010), 15(3), 221–225

Of Knights, Knaves and Merchants: The Case of Residential Care for Older People in England in the Late 1990s

This paper examines the motivations of a sample of fifty providers of residential care for older people in England in 1997. The theoretical point of departure is the “knights and knaves” categorization suggested by Julian Le Grand. A cluster analysis of the expressed motivations of the providers of residential care suggests three types: empathizers, professionals and income prioritizers. These combine knightly and knavish motives in varying degrees. Le Grand’s recommendation that strategic policy towards actors in welfare services should be robust about motives is endorsed. However, a third, “mercantile”, aspect of motivation is revealed re?ecting providers’ needs to exercise control over, and experience ownership of, their enterprises. This should also be taken into account in the design of policy. Policy decisions that are insensitive to this aspect of motivation are likely to be misguided and ?awed.

Taking the Employees’ Perspective Seriously: An Initial United Kingdom Cross-Sectoral Comparison

This article describes how the largest labor market survey in the United Kingdom has been used to compare employment in the third sector with other sectors. This is based on employees’owninternal definition of their employers’sector, an approach that it is argued can usefully supplement the dominant external approach. The dimensions along which the (self-defined) third sector emerges as distinctive include its rather small absolute size, its relatively high concentration of part-time and temporary staff, the greater proportion of its workers who work unpaid overtime, the relatively high proportion of employees who are women, the tendency for its respondents to have high levels of educational qualifications, and its distinctive composition. At least some of these features seem to be shared with the third sector in other developed countries, although it is very difficult to be confident in these comparisons for the reasons discussed in the article.

Low pay in the UK: the case for a three sector comparative approach

This paper represents a first attempt to examine empirically the comparative extensiveness of low pay in the third sector against the theoretical backdrop of both the generic labour market literature and the newly emerging specialist third sector literature. It shows that the third sector occupies an intermediate position between relatively high concentrations of low pay in the private sector and low concentrations in the public sector. These differences do not emerge simply because the categories of vulnerable workers identified in the generic labour market literature are less likely to be found in the third sector. Nor do they reflect differences in sectoral industry and occupation composition. Theoretical explanations for these differences are to be found in the third sector literature.

From the third sector to the Big Society: consensus or contention in the 2010 UK general election?

The 2010 election marked a turning-point in British politics, with a new Coalition government replacing the Labour administration which had been in power for thirteen years. This resulted in an apparent change in policy on the third sector, from a period of ‘hyperactive mainstreaming’ in which significant support was provided for the sector to the ‘Big Society’ agenda under which voluntary and community action are promoted as an alternative to state intervention. This article explores this transition through analysis of the presentation of third sector politics in the election campaign and the subsequent development of these under the new government, providing an insight into the relationships between electoral politics and policy development within the UK.