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Citizen perceptions of the third sector and social innovation

Thu, June 30, 3:30 to 5:00pm, Campus Ersta, Aulan

Abstract

This contribution answers descriptive and explanatory questions about the correlates of citizen perceptions of the third sector. To do so we have analysed data from 43,064 respondents in three different surveys in 30 countries: the Eurobarometer surveys (n = 29,334), the World Values Survey (n = 12,414), and the Giving in the Netherlands Panel Survey (n = 1,316).
Few studies to date have examined perceptions of third sector activities and organisations in Europe (Bekkers, Mersianova, Smith, Abu-Rumman, Layton & Roka, 2015). If the contribution of the third sector to social innovation is recognized by citizens, we should find that perceptions of third sector organisations are generally positive, and especially by participants in third sector activities.
First we describe the level of trust that citizens in Europe have in third sector organizations, responding to five questions: (1) What proportion of citizens in Europe say they trust third sector organizations? (2) How high this trust compared to trust in other institutions? (3) How does trust in third sector organizations vary between countries in Europe? (4) How does this trust develop over time? (5) How does this trust vary between various social and demographic groups and with varying levels of participation in third sector organizations?
The key results are: (1) In almost all countries a majority of the population tends to trust third sector organizations, ranging from 49% in the Czech Republic and Sweden to 75% in Great Britain and 84% in Malta; (2) Third sector organisations rank in the top 3 of most trusted institutions; (3) The average level of trust in third sector organizations does not differ much between European and non-European countries, nor across country characteristics such as GDP, religiosity, or world region; (4) Trust in third sector organizations has not changed much in the past decade; (5) Trust in third sector organizations is part of a general propensity to trust institutions, whereby the strongest predictor of trust is satisfaction with life, trust decreases with age and increases with the level of education and occupational status, and individual participants in third sector organizations have more trust than non-participants.
We sought to test hypotheses on correlates of citizen perceptions at three levels of analysis: the micro-level of individual citizens (e.g., resources, personality, generalized social trust), the meso-level of third sector organizations (e.g., sector, membership of accountability clubs), and the macro-level of societies (e.g., corruption, GDP, and the proportion of the population active as volunteers). Unfortunately, data on citizen perceptions of third sector organizations that cover relevant dimensions at all three levels of analysis are not available. Consequently, we could not test all variables in a single analysis.
Finally, we examined perceptions of the societal impact of third sector organizations. Unfortunately, none of the surveys included questions that specifically measured social innovation. Contributions of third sector activities were perceived to be positive, and covered a range of areas, from health care to employment. Also Europeans recognize that volunteering produces a mix of benefits, through enhanced cohesion, expression of values of solidarity, self-fulfilment and personal development. Volunteers saw only slightly more benefits of volunteering than non-volunteers, but the benefits vary strongly between areas: They are perceived as higher in social inclusion, intercultural dialogue and sports than in humanitarian aid, health care, the environment, or human rights.

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