Working under pressure: How third sector organizations in Europe have responded to transforming policy environments

• In Event: Changing third sector care services

Abstract

The context conditions for third sector organizations (TSOs) in Europe have changed significantly over the past two decades. This changing policy environment has not only affected the availability of public and private funding for TSOs, but also altered the modes of their cooperation with the state and shifted societal discourses and expectations towards the third sector. In many EU member states, the effects of the global economic crisis and subsequent austerity policies aggravated the challenges TSOs are confronted with. The direct consequences of austerity are a decrease in the availability of funding resources. More long-term effects of austerity include the impact on the internal structure of the third sector, its alignment towards external stakeholders and its interrelations with state and society.
Despite a common policy context, third sector evolution, however, has not been the same across Europe. Context conditions for third sector development significantly vary among EU member states. This also holds true for the responses the sector has been able to formulate with regard to the changing environment. This paper aims to identify commonalities and differences between the third sector development in EU member states by focusing on barriers and opportunities for TSOs.
The paper will combine a strategic action field analysis (Fligstein & McAdam, 2012) with an interpretive policy analysis approach (Yanow, 2000) which will allow for understanding third sector development in interrelation to broader political and societal trends in Europe. The analysis is based on a cross-country comparison between Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, France, Poland and Croatia.
The paper aims to develop an analytical framework that allows for a systematic comparison of the barriers and opportunities for third sector development in the six European countries. The following key questions will be addressed:
- How have transforming policy environments, e.g. the impact of the global financial crisis and subsequent austerity measures, changed the context for third sector development in the six countries?
- How have longer-term societal transformations affected the evolution of the third sector in the six countries? How have TSOs responded to the challenges of a transforming policy environment? What kind of opportunities and obstacles have they been encountering? What are successful strategies of adaptation to cope with these challenges?
- What are the differences in the evolution of the third sector between the six countries under study, how can these differences be explained and what do they tell us about the state of the third sector in Europe?

By providing a comparative analysis between six European countries, this paper does not only aim to account for country characteristics, but also to identify broader trends of third sector development in Europe. The analysis is based on document analysis, in-depth interviews and an online survey among third sector representatives. Empirical material has been collected in the course of the Third Sector Impact project.

References:
Fligstein, N. & McAdam, D. (2012). A theory of fields, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Yanow, D. (2000). Conducting Interpretive Policy Analysis, Qualitative Research Methods: 47, Thousand Oaks, London, and New Delhi: Publications.

Authors

• Bartosz Pieliński, Warsaw University

• Joachim Benedikt Pahl

• Ulla Pape

• Danijel Baturina, Institute for Social Policy, Law Faculty Zagreb

• Taco Brandsen, Radboud University Nijmegen

• Jelena Matancevic, University of Zagreb

• Francesca Petrella, LIST

• Christina Rentzsch, University of Muenster

• Ruth Simsa, University of Economics and Business, Vienna

• Annette Zimmer, Münster University