When Philanthropy Disrupts: Does Big-Money Philanthropy Supplant Public Goods and Diminish Civil Society?

• In Event: 490 - Thematic Session. Inequality and Philanthropy

Abstract

Do new forms of philanthropy, propelled by wealth from the technology and finance sectors, supplant or complement the role of the state in providing public goods? To address this question, we review the history of the relationship between philanthropy, the state, and civil society in the U.S. The contemporary era has seen philanthropy shift from its Gilded Age contributory role, in which new forms of public goods such as libraries and universities were supported, toward a more disruptive role, providing services that are alternatives to those offered by the state. We analyze how this new era of philanthropy has had both direct and unintended effects in altering the role of government. Through key examples, we demonstrate how these developments unfold. One, big-money philanthropy both critiques state bureaucratic administration and undercuts the relationship between the state and civil society. As government budgets are starved, public officials look to alternative private ways to provide public services. Two, the private provision of public goods further delegitimates state actions. Although these new philanthropic models are relatively small compared to total charitable giving and government budgets, we argue that they provoke broader changes in the relationship of philanthropy, the state, and civil society.

Author

• Aaron Elliott Grodner Horvath, Stanford University