Currently, international research on the nonprofit sector is paying increasing attention to institutional as well as organizational analysis. Drawing on both approaches, this article seeks an understanding of the changing configuration of the sector by investigating the dimension of flexibility in the relation between nonprofits and their various dynamic environments. The approach is developed for the German case. The analysis not only permits identification of the underpinnings of the old “corporatist model,” shaping the German third sector as a social sphere between the state and the market economy, but also points at the factors leading to a gradual erosion of that model. Moreover, it allows a brief exploration of the evolutionary dynamics of the German nonprofit fields in comparison to major international trends.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Ahrne, G. (1994). Social organizations: Interaction inside, outside and between organization. London: Sage.
2.
Aldrich, H. E. (1979). Organizations and environments. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
3.
Alexander, V. D. (1998). Environmental constraints and organizational strategies: Complexity, conflict, and coping in the nonprofit sector. In W. W. Powell & E. S. Clemens (Eds.), Private action and the public good (pp. 272-290). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
4.
Anheier, H. K. (1992). An elaborate network: Profiling the third sector in Germany. In B. Gidron, R. M. Kramer, & L. Salamon (Eds.), Government and the third sector: Emerging relationships in welfare states (pp. 31-56). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
5.
Anheier, H. K. (2000). Managing non-profit organisations: Towards a new approach (London School of Economics Civil Society Working Paper No. 1). London: Centre for Civil Society.
6.
Anheier, H. K., & Seibel, W. (Eds.) (1990). The third sector: Comparative studies of nonprofit organizations. Berlin, New York: De Gruyter.
7.
Anheier, H. K., & Seibel, W. (2001). The nonprofit sector in Germany: Between state, economy and society. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.
8.
Aschhoff, G., & Henningsen, E. (1996). The German cooperative system: Its history, structure and strength. Frankfurt, Main, Germany: Fritz Knapp Verlag.
9.
Ascoli, U., & Ranci, C. (Eds.) (2002). Dilemmas of the welfare mix: The privatization of social care in Europe. New York: Plenum.
10.
Belous, R. N. (1989). The contingent economy: The growth of the temporary, part-time and subcontract workforce. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
11.
Blindenbacher, R. (1999). The task dilemma in human service organizations and its impact on efficacy—A possible solution developed out of the theory of society of Jürgen Habermas. European Journal of Social Work, 2(2), 131-138.
12.
Bode, I. (2000). De la solidarité au marché. En France et en Allemagne, nouveaux défis pour les organismes d'assurance maladie à but non lucratif [From solidarity to market. New challenges for nonprofit health care funds in France and in Germany]. Revue internationale de l'économie sociale (Revue des études coopératives, mutualistes et associatives), 79(278), 67-79.
13.
Bode, I. (2002). Transformationspfade intermediärer Wohlfahrtsproduktion. Die Caritas im deutsch-französischen Vergleich [Path of transformations in the intermediary system of welfare production. The “Caritas” in Germany and France compared]. Duisburger Beiträge zur soziologischen Forschung 3. Retrieved from http://soziologie.uni-duisburg.de/dbsf.htm
14.
Bode, I., & Graf, A. (1999). Arbeiten für gute Zwecke. Organisation und Beschäftigung im Dritten Sektor. Duisburger Beiträge zur soziologischen Forschung 4. Retrieved from http://soziologie.uni-duisburg.de/dbsf.htm
15.
Boenker, F., & Wollmann, H. (1996). Incrementalism and reform waves: The case of social service reform in the Federal Republic of Germany. Journal of European Public Policy, 3(3), 441-460.
16.
Boris, E. T., & Steuerle, C. E. (Eds.) (1999). Nonprofits & government: Collaboration and conflict. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute Press.
17.
Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Freien Wohlfahrtspflege (BAGFW) e.V. (1997). Gesamtstatistik der Einrichtungen der Freien Wohlfahrtpflege 1996 [National working group of associational welfare]. Bonn, Germany: Author.
18.
Child, J. (1972). Organizational structure, environment and performances. The role of strategic choice. Sociology, 6(1), 1-22.
19.
Cyert, R. M., & March, J. S. (1963). A behavioral theory of the firm. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
20.
Dahme, H.-J., & Wohlfahrt, N. (2000). Zur politischen Inszenierung von Wettbewerb und Vernetzung im Sozial—und Gesundheitssektor—auf dem Weg zu einem neuen Ordnungsmix? [The political staging of competition and networking in the health and the social sector - on the route to a new mixed order?]. In H. J. Dahme & N. Wohlfahrt (Eds.), Netzwerkökonomie im Wohlfahrtsstaat. Wettbewerb und Kooperation im Sozial- und Gesundheitssektor (pp. 9-27). Berlin, Germany: Sigma.
21.
Evers, A. (1993). The welfare mix approach: Understanding the pluralism of welfare systems. In A. Evers & I. Swetlik (Eds.), Balancing pluralism: New welfare mixes in care for the elderly (pp. 3-31). Aldershot, UK: Avebury.
22.
Evers, A. (1998). The new long-term care insurance program in Germany. Journal of Aging & Social Policy, 18(1), 77-98.
23.
Evers, A., & Strünck, C. (2002). Answers without questions? The changing contract culture in Germany and the future of a mixed welfare system. In U. Ascoli & C. Ranci (Eds.), Dilemmas of the welfare mix: The privatization of social care in Europe (pp. 165-196). New York: Plenum.
24.
Fine, B. (1998). Labour market theory. A constructive reassessment. London: Routledge.
25.
Flösser, G., & Otto, H.-U. (Eds.). (1998). Towards more democracy in social services: Models of culture and welfare. New York: De Gruyter.
26.
FGA. (2000). Förderverein gewerkschaftliche Arbeitslosenarbeit e.V. In Gute Adressen. Erwerbslosenprojekte in Deutschland. Bielefeld: Author.
27.
Galaskiewicz, J., & Bielefeld, W. (1998). Nonprofit organizations in an age of uncertainty: A study of organizational change. New York: de Gruyter.
28.
Gibelmann, M. (1998). Theory, practice, and experience in the purchase of services. In M. Gibelmann & H. W. Demone (Eds.), The privatization of human services: Policy and practice issues (pp. 1-51). New York: Springer.
29.
Hansman, H. B. (1986). The role of nonprofit enterprise. In S. Rose-Ackerman (Ed.), The economics of nonprofit institutions: Studies in structure and policy (pp. 57-84). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
30.
Hasenfeld, Y. (1992). Human services as complex organizations. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
31.
Mackintosh, M. (2000). Flexible contracting? Economic cultures and implicit contracts in social care. Journal of Social Policy, 29(1), 1-19.
32.
Middleton Stone, M. (1996). Competing contexts: The evolution of a nonprofit organizations's governance system in multiple environments. Administration & Society, 26(1), 61-89.
33.
Offe, C. (1981). The attribution of public status to interest groups. In S. Berger (Ed.), Organizing interests in western Europe (pp. 123-158). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
34.
Parsons, T. (1956). Suggestions for a sociological approach of organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 1(1/2), 63-85, 225-239.
35.
Perri 6. (1997). The new politics of welfare contracting. In Perri 6 & J. Kendall (Eds.), The contract culture in public services: Studies from Britain, Europe and the USA (pp. 181-192). Aldershot, UK: Ashgate.
36.
Perrow, C. (1991). A society of organizations. Theory & Society, 20, 725-762.
37.
Powell, W. W. (1987). The nonprofit sector: A research handbook. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
38.
Powell, W. W., & Clemens, E. S. (Eds.). (1998). Private action and the public good. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
39.
Priller, E., & Zimmer, A. (2001). Wachstum und Wandel des Dritten Sektors in Deutschland [Growth and change of the third sector in Germany]. In E. Priller & A. Zimmer (Eds.), Der Dritte Sektor international. Mehr Markt—weniger Staat? (pp. 199-228). Berlin, Germany: Sigma.
40.
Reister, H., Nikolaus, K., & Klippstein, N. (2000). Gesellschaftliche Organisationen und Erwerbslose. Unterstützung von Arbeitslosen durch Gewerkschaften, Wohlfahrtsverbände, Arbeitslosenorganisationen, Kirchen und Kommunen in den neuen Bundesländern [Societal organizations and jobless people. The support of the unemployed by trade unions, churches, welfare associations, jobless initiatives, and municipalities in the new counties]. Berlin, Germany: Karl Dietz.
41.
Salamon, L. M., & Anheier, H. K. (1998a). Social origins of civil society: Explaining the nonprofit sector cross-nationally, Voluntas, 9(3), 213-248.
42.
Salamon, L. M., & Anheier, H. K. (1998b). The third route: Government-nonprofit collaboration in Germany and the United States. In W. W. Powell & E. S. Clemens (Eds.), Private action and the public good (pp. 151-162). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
43.
Scott, W. R., & Meyer, J. W. (1991). The organization of societal sectors: Propositions and early evidence. In W. W. Powell & P.J. DiMaggio (Eds.), The new institutionalism in organizational analysis (pp. 108-140). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
44.
Stanfield, J. H. (Ed.). (1997). Social justice philanthropy: Research in social policy (vol. 5). London: JAI Press.
45.
Stodgill, R. M. (1967). Dimensions of organization theory. In J. D. Thompson (Ed.), Approaches to organization design (2nd ed., pp. 1-56). Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.
46.
Streeck, W., & Schmitter, P. (1985). Community, market, state—and associations. European Sociological Review, 1(2), 119-138.
47.
Taylor, M. (1999). Influencing policy: A UK voluntary sector perspective. In D. Lewis (Ed.), International perspectives on voluntary action. Reshaping the third sector (pp. 182-201). London: Earthscan.
48.
Weisbrod, B. A. (Ed.). (1998). To profit or not to profit: The commercial transformation of the nonprofit sector. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
49.
Wolsky-Prenger, F. (Ed.). (1996). Arbeitslosenarbeit. Erfahrungen. Konzepte. Ziele [Work with the unemployed. Experiences, concepts, targets]. Opladen, Germany: Leske & Budrich.
50.
Wolsky-Prenger, F. (1998). Projects for the unemployed in Germany. In R. van Berkel, H. Coenen, & R. Vlek (Eds.), Beyond marginality? Social movements of social security claimants in the European Union (pp. 95-117). Aldershot, UK: Avebury.
51.
Zimmer, A. (1999). Corporatism revisited—The legacy of history and the German non-profit-sector. Voluntas, 10(1), 37-49.
