The Political Embeddedness of Voluntary Action: The Case of Local Philanthropic COVID-19 Relief Funds

Abstract

Scholars and policymakers have long been interested in the complex relationships between political institutions and voluntary collective action. However, the reciprocal nature of their relationships complicates empirical analysis: voluntary action supports democratic institutions and political institutions enable voluntary action. This article examines the relationship between political institutions and the activation of local voluntary action in the context of COVID-19 funds managed by community philanthropic organizations. We find that political engagement, policy signaling, and political competition all support the emergence of a COVID-19 fund. The findings advance our understanding of the significant role that political institutions play in activating voluntary action.

Keywords

voluntary action philanthropy government institutions COVID-19 political theory

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Aldrich

D. P.

(2012). Building resilience: Social capital in post-disaster recovery. University of Chicago Press.

Aldrich

D. P.

(2019). Black wave: How networks and governance shaped Japan’s 3/11 disasters. University of Chicago Press.

Alesina

Baqir

Easterly

(1999). Public goods and ethnic divisions. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 11(4), 1243–1284.

Allan

J. P.

Scruggs

(2004). Political partisanship and welfare state reform in advanced industrial societies. American Journal of Political Science, 48(3), 496–512. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0092-5853.2004.00083.x

Allcott

Boxell

Conway

Gentzkow

Thaler

Yang

(2020). Polarization and public health: Partisan differences in social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic. Journal of Public Economics, 191, 104254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104254

Andrews

(2012). Social capital and public service performance: A review of the evidence. Public Policy and Administration, 27(1), 49–67. https://doi.org/10.1177/0952076710394399

Bekkers

(2005). Participation in voluntary associations: Relations with resources, personality, and political values. Political Psychology, 26(3), 439–454.

Béland

Schlager

(2019). Varieties of policy feedback research: Looking backward, moving forward. Policy Studies Journal, 47(2), 184–205. https://doi.org/10.1111/psj.12340

Berry

W. D.

Ringquist

E. J.

Fording

R. C.

Hanson

R. L.

(1998). Measuring citizen and government ideology in the American states, 1960-93. American Journal of Political Science, 42(1), 327–348. https://doi.org/10.2307/2991759

10.

Bevan

(2013). Continuing the collective action dilemma: The survival of voluntary associations in the United States. Political Research Quarterly, 66(3), 545–558. https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912912456096

11.

Bielefeld

Rooney

Steinberg

(2005). How do need, capacity, geography, and politics influence giving? https://scholarworks.iupui.edu/handle/1805/5847

12.

Borbáth

Hunger

Hutter

Oana

I.-E.

(2021). Civic and political engagement during the multifaceted COVID-19 crisis. Swiss Political Science Review, 27(2), 311–324. https://doi.org/10.1111/spsr.12446

13.

Bowles

Gintis

(2002). Social capital and community governance*. The Economic Journal, 112(483), F419–F436. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0297.00077

14.

Brilliant

E. L.

(1990). The united way: Dilemmas of organized charity. Columbia University Press. https://doi.org/10.7312/bril94314

15.

Brooks

A. C.

(2006). Who really cares: The surprising truth about compassionate conversatism: America’s charity divide–who gives, who doesn’t, and why it matters. Basic Books.

16.

Brown

Ferris

J. M

. (2007). Social capital and philanthropy: An analysis of the impact of social capital on individual giving and volunteering. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 36(1), 85–99. https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764006293178

17.

Castiglia

(2022). Purple innovation? The negative effect of political diversity on corporate innovation. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2022(1), 10316. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2022.65

18.

Cheng

Y. (Daniel)

. (2019). Nonprofit spending and government provision of public services: Testing theories of government–nonprofit relationships. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 29(2), 238–254. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muy054

19.

Clemens

E. S.

(2020). Nonprofits as boundary markers: The politics of choice, mobilization, and arbitrage. In Powell

W. W.

Bromley

(Eds.), The nonprofit sector: A research handbook (3rd ed., pp. 192–207). Stanford University Press. https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781503611085-011/html

20.

Curley

Federman

P. S.

(2020). State executive orders: Nuance in restrictions, revealing suspensions, and decisions to enforce. Public Administration Review, 80(4), 623–628. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13250

21.

Curley

Harrison

Federman

(2021). Comparing Motivations For Including Enforcement In US COVID-19 state executive orders. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 23, 191–203. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13876988.2021.1880871

22.

Cuthill

Fien

(2005). Capacity building: Facilitating citizen participation in local governance. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 64(4), 63–80. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8500.2005.00465a.x

23.

Dell

Lane

Querubin

(2018). The historical state, local collective action, and economic development in Vietnam. Econometrica, 86(6), 2083–2121. https://doi.org/10.3982/ECTA15122

24.

Denny

E. K.

(2022). Crisis, resilience, and civic engagement: Pandemic-era census completion. Perspectives on Politics, 20, 577–594. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592721002024

25.

Desouza

K. C.

Bhagwatwar

(2012). Leveraging technologies in public agencies: The case of the U.S. Census Bureau and the 2010 census. Public Administration Review, 72(4), 605–614. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2012.02592.x

26.

Downs

(1957). An economic theory of political action in a democracy. Journal of Political Economy, 65(2), 135–150.

27.

Dutta

(2017). Creating in the crucibles of nature’s fury: Associational diversity and local social entrepreneurship after natural disasters in California, 1991–2010. Administrative Science Quarterly, 62(3), 443–483. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839216668172

28.

Ekman

Amnå

(2012). Political participation and civic engagement: Towards a new typology. Human Affairs, 22(3), 283–300. https://doi.org/10.2478/s13374-012-0024-1

29.

Erikson

R. S.

Tedin

K. L.

(2019). American public opinion: Its origins, content, and impact (10th ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351034746

30.

Feldman

Zaller

(1992). The political culture of ambivalence: Ideological responses to the welfare state. American Journal of Political Science, 36(1), 268–307. https://doi.org/10.2307/2111433

31.

Foley

M. W.

Edwards

(1996). The paradox of civil society. Journal of Democracy, 7(3), 38–52. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.1996.0048

32.

Fusi

Feeney

M. K.

(2020). Data sharing in small and medium US cities: The role of community characteristics. Public Administration, 98(4), 922–940. https://doi.org//10.1111/padm.12666

33.

Gazley

LaFontant

Cheng

Y. (Daniel)

. (2020). Does coproduction of public services support government’s social equity goals? The case of U.S. state parks. Public Administration Review, 80(3), 349–359. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13161

34.

Goss

K. A.

Barnes

Rose

(2019). Bringing organizations back in: Multilevel feedback effects on individual civic inclusion. Policy Studies Journal, 47(2), 451–470. https://doi.org/10.1111/psj.12312

35.

Graddy

Wang

(2009). Community foundation development and social capi- tal. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 38(3), 392–412.

36.

Habyarimana

Humphreys

Posner

D. N.

Weinstein

J. M.

(2007). Why does ethnic diversity undermine public goods provision? The American Political Science Review, 101(4), 709–725. https://doi.org/10.2307/27644480

37.

Hall

P. D.

(1987). A historical overview of the private nonprofit sector. In Powell

W. W.

(Ed.), The nonprofit sector: A research handbook (1st ed., pp. 2–26). Yale University Press.

38.

Hammack

D. C.

(1989). Community foundations: The delicate question of purpose (An Agile Servant, pp. 23–50). The Foundation Center.

39.

Hopkins

D. J.

(2010). Politicized places: Explaining where and when immigrants provoke local opposition. American Political Science Review, 104(1), 40–60. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055409990360

40.

Ikeda

Kobayashi

Hoshimoto

(2008). Does political participation make a difference? The relationship between political choice, civic engagement and political efficacy. Electoral Studies, 27(1), 77–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2007.11.004

41.

Iyengar

Lelkes

Levendusky

Malhotra

Westwood

S. J.

(2019). The origins and consequences of affective polarization in the United States. Annual Review of Political Science, 22(1), 129–146. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-051117-073034

42.

Iyengar

Sood

Lelkes

(2012). Affect, not ideology: A social identity perspective on polarization. Public Opinion Quarterly, 76(3), 405–431. https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfs038

43.

Iyengar

Westwood

S. J.

(2015). Fear and loathing across party lines: New evidence on group polarization. American Journal of Political Science, 59(3), 690–707. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12152

44.

Jack

Anderson

(2002). The effects of embeddedness on the entrepreneurial process. Journal of Business Venturing, 17, 467–487. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0883-9026(01)00076-3

45.

Jeong

H. O.

(2013). From civic participation to political participation. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 24(4), 1138–1158. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-012-9316-7

46.

Jeong

Cui

T. S.

(2020). The density of nonprofit organizations: Beyond community diversity and resource availability. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 31(1), 213–226. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-019-00175-8

47.

(2021). Schools for democracy? The relationship between nonprofit volunteering and direct public participation. International Public Management Journal, 24(1), 67–85. https://doi.org/10.1080/10967494.2020.1839610

48.

Kelleher

Yackee

S. W.

(2004). An empirical assessment of devolution’s policy impact. Policy Studies Journal, 32(2), 253–270.

49.

Kim

(2015). Socioeconomic diversity, political engagement, and the density of nonprofit organizations in U.S. counties. The American Review of Public Administration, 45(4), 402–416. https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074013504616

50.

Krishna

(2002). Active social capital: Tracing the roots of development and democracy. Columbia University Press.

51.

Lecy

J. D.

Ashley

S. R.

Santamarina

F. J.

(2019). Do nonprofit missions vary by the political ideology of supporting communities? Some preliminary results. Public Performance & Management Review, 42(1), 115–141. https://doi.org/10.1080/15309576.2018.1526092

52.

Lecy

J. D.

Van Slyke

D. M.

(2013). Nonprofit sector growth and density: Testing theories of government support. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 23(1), 189–214. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/mus010

53.

Licari

M. J.

Meier

K. J.

(2000). Regulation and signaling: When a tax is not just a tax. The Journal of Politics, 62(3), 875–885. https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-3816.00037

54.

Lobao

Kraybill

(2005). The emerging roles of county governments in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas: Findings from a national survey. Economic Development Quarterly - ECON DEV Q, 19, 245–259. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891242405276514

55.

Martin

D. C.

Newman

B. J.

(2015). Measuring aggregate social capital using census response rates. American Politics Research, 43(4), 625–642. https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X14536923

56.

Mazany

Perry

D. C.

(Eds.). (2013). Here for good: Community foundations and the challenges of the 21st century. ME Sharpe.

57.

McAllister

Makkai

(2021). Populism and charity donations: An Australian case study. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 50(5), 939–958. https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764021991676

58.

McCall

J. R.

Bussing

Hoyman

M. M.

Paarlberg

L. E.

(2020). Place matters: Government capacity, community characteristics, and social capital across United States counties. Journal of Public Policy, 41, 677–705. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0143814X20000227

59.

McConnell

Margalit

Malhotra

Levendusky

(2018). The economic consequences of partisanship in a polarized era. American Journal of Political Science, 62(1), 5–18. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12330

60.

McPherson

Smith-Lovin

Cook

J. M.

(2001). Birds of a feather: Homophily in social networks. Annual Review of Sociology, 27, 415–444.

61.

Merton

R. K.

(1987). Three fragments from a sociologist’s notebooks: Establishing the phenomenon, specified ignorance, and strategic research materials. Annual Review of Sociology, 13(1), 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.so.13.080187.000245

62.

Mettler

Soss

(2004). The consequences of public policy for democratic citizenship: Bridging policy studies and mass politics. Perspectives on Politics, 2(1), 55–73.

63.

Monteil

Simmons

Hicks

(2020). Post-disaster recovery and socio- cultural change: Rethinking social capital development for the new social fab- ric. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 42, 101356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2019.101356

64.

Neem

J. N.

(2003). Politics and the origins of the nonprofit corporation in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, 1780-1820. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 32(3), 344–365. https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764003254593

65.

Paarlberg

L. E.

Nesbit

Clerkin

R. M.

Christensen

R. K.

(2019). The politics of donations: Are red counties more donative than blue counties? Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 48(2), 283–308. https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764018804088

66.

Paarlberg

L. E.

Zuhlke

(2019). Revisiting the theory of government failure in the face of heterogeneous demands. Perspectives on Public Management and Governance, 2(2), 103–124. https://doi.org/10.1093/ppmgov/gvz002

67.

Paxton

(2002). Social capital and democracy: An interdependent relationship. American Sociological Review, 67(2), 254–277. https://doi.org/10.2307/3088895

68.

Perry

D. C.

Mazany

(2014). Community foundations as foundations of community. In Mazany

Perry

D. C.

(Eds.), Here for good: Community foundations and the challenges of the 21st century (pp. 2–25). ME Sharpe.

69.

Plotnick

R. D.

Winters

R. F.

(1985). A politico-economic theory of income redistribution. The American Political Science Review, 79(2), 458–473. https://doi.org/10.2307/1956660

70.

Putnam

R. D.

(1995). Bowling alone: America’s declining social capital. Journal of Democracy, 6(1), 65–78. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.1995.0002

71.

Putnam

R. D.

(2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American com- munity. Simon and schuster.

72.

Putnam

R. D.

Leonardi

Nanetti

R. Y.

(1992). Making democracy work: Civic traditions in modern Italy. Princeton University Press.

73.

Reich

(2018). Just giving: Why philanthropy is failing democracy and how it can do better. Princeton University Press.

74.

Ressler

R. W.

Paxton

Velasco

Pivnick

Weiss

Eichstaedt

J. C.

(2021). Nonprofits: A public policy tool for the promotion of community subjective well-being. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 31, 822–838. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muab010

75.

Rivera

J. D.

Nickels

A. E.

(2014). Social capital, community resilience, and faith-based organizations in disaster recovery: A case study of Mary queen of Vietnam catholic church. Risk, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy, 5(2), 178–211. https://doi.org/10.1002/rhc3.12050

76.

Rupasingha

Goetz

S. J.

Freshwater

(2006). The production of social capi- tal in US counties. The Journal of Socio-economics, 35(1), 83–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2005.11.001

77.

Sampson

R. J.

(2012). Great American city: Chicago and the enduring neighborhood effect. University of Chicago Press.

78.

Schneider

Ingram

(1993). Social construction of target populations: Implications for politics and policy. The American Political Science Review, 87(2), 334–347. https://doi.org/10.2307/2939044

79.

Sherrieb

Norris

F. H.

Galea

(2010). Measuring capacities for community resilience. Social Indicators Research, 99(2), 227–247. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-010-9576-9

80.

Simo

Bies

A. L.

(2007). The role of nonprofits in disaster response: An expanded model of cross-sector collaboration. Public Administration Review, 67(s1), 125–142. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2007.00821.x

81.

Skocpol

(1995). Protecting soldiers and mothers: The political origins of social policy in the United States. Harvard University Press.

82.

Skocpol

(2008). Bringing the state back in: Retrospect and prospect the 2007 Johan Skytte P. . .: Discovery Service (IUPUI). Scandinavian Political Studies, 31(2), 109–124.

83.

Skocpol

Ganz

Munson

(2000). A nation of organizers: The institutional origins of civic voluntarism in the United States. American Political Science Review, 94(3), 527–546. https://doi.org/10.2307/2585829

84.

Sobieraj

White

(2004). Taxing political life. The Sociological Quarterly, 45(4), 739–764. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.2004.tb02312.x

85.

Stinchcombe

A. L.

(2005). The Logic of Social Research. University of Chicago Press.

86.

Storr

V. H.

Haeffele-Balch

(2012). Post-disaster community recovery in heterogeneous, loosely connected communities. Review of Social Economy, 70(3), 295–314. https://doi.org/10.1080/00346764.2012.662786

87.

Van Puyvelde

Brown

W. A

. (2016). Determinants of nonprofit sector density: A stakeholder approach. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 27(3), 1045–1063. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-015-9656-1

88.

Verba

Nie

N. H.

(1987). Participation in America: Political democracy and social equality. University of Chicago Press.

89.

Vigdor

J. L.

(2004). Community composition and collective action: Analyzing initial mail response to the 2000 census. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 86(1), 303–312. https://doi.org/10.1162/003465304323023822

90.

Weisbrod

B. A.

(1977). The voluntary nonprofit sector: An economic analysis. Lexington Books.

91.

Youniss

McLellan

J. A.

Yates

(1997). What we know about engendering civic identity. American Behavioral Scientist, 40(5), 620–631. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764297040005008

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.02 MB