New Government/Nonprofit Relationship Frameworks in Comparative Perspective: Social Welfare in Germany and the US

• In Event: Civil Society and Collaboration with the State and the Market

Abstract

Government/nonprofit relationship patterns set the stage for intersectoral collaborative efforts at the organizational level. In recent years, these relationship patterns have been undergoing considerable change calling the ‘partnership paradigm’ that is based on Lester Salamon’s (1995) work increasingly into question. Reflecting these changes, two frameworks were recently proposed to take account of the growing complexity of sector relations. Grønbjerg and Smith's (2021) policy fields framework examines how government-nonprofit relationships differ across policy fields and the factors responsible for this variation including interactions with the market and informal sectors. Taking a different approach, Toepler, Zimmer et al. (2023) extend Young’s (2000) supplementary-complementary-adversarial government/nonprofit relations typology to include a broader set of roles or functions that both sectors perform in their relationship. Both frameworks are designed to facilitate cross-national comparison. After presenting and comparing these two frameworks, we apply them to the cases of Germany and the US to demonstrate how both frameworks have comparative applicability and also illuminate different aspects of the sectoral relationship that showcases its high level of complexity. The case discussions focus on the human services/social welfare policy field and highlight the contributions both frameworks can make to understand the relationships in different contexts.

References:
Grønbjerg, K. A., & Smith, S. R. (2021). The Changing Dynamic of Government–Nonprofit Relationships: Advancing the Field(s). Elements in Public and Nonprofit Administration. Cambridge University Press
Salamon, L. M. (1995). Partners in public service: Government-nonprofit relations in the modern welfare state. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Toepler, S., Zimmer, A., Levy, K., & Fröhlich, C. (2023). Beyond the partnership paradigm: Toward an extended typology of government/nonprofit relationship patterns. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 52(1_suppl), 160S-186S.
Young, D. R. (2000). Alternative Models of Government-Nonprofit Sector Relations: Theoretical and International Perspectives. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 29(1), 149–172.

Authors

• Annette Zimmer, Münster University

• Stefan Toepler, George Mason University

• Steven Rathgeb Smith, American Political Science Association