The voluntary or third sector in England is now receiving more sustained attention from policy makers than ever before. This paper claims that this situation, particularly as given tangible expression through the development of a Compact between the Government and representatives of the third sector, amounts to the mainstreaming of the third sector onto the public policy agenda. It seeks to explain why this has happened in the late 1990s, framed by the "multiple streams" approach of US political scientist John W. Kingdon. The paper draws upon a review of relevant policy and political literature, and interviews with stakeholders in the Government and the third sector, to examine the respective contributions of individual and collective actors in the policy, problem and politics streams.

The relationship between interpersonal trust and membership in voluntary associations is a persistent research finding in sociology. What is more, the notion of trust has become a central issue in current social science theorizing covering such diverse approaches as transaction costs economics or cognitive sociology. In different ways and for different purposes, these approaches address the role of voluntary organizations, although, as this paper argues, much of this thinking remains sketchy and underdeveloped. Against an empirical portrait of this relationship, the purpose of this paper is to assess such theorizing. We first set out to explicate major approaches to trust in economics, sociology and political science, using the non-profit or voluntary organization as a focal point. We then examine the various approaches in terms of their strengths and weaknesses, and, finally, identify key areas for theoretical development. In particular, we point to the social movement literature, the social psychology of trust, and recent thinking about civil society.

No abstract

Discussion about, and analysis of, the question of definition and the third sector and civil society more generally has developed to a significant degree in recent years. This paper can be located in a new phase of recent research, which seeks to attend to the historical, cultural and politically contingent nature of this domain's boundaries. The process of constituting the sector is discussed as the product of new discourses of decontestation and contention within third sector policy and practice. It takes England as a case study, drawing on evidence and argument assembled by the authors in recent and ongoing research efforts, variously conducted with the support of the Third Sector Research Centre (TSRC) and the European Commission. The paper proceeds by discussing relevant literature; describing recent patterns of policy institutionalisation; and then tries to draw out more analytically how this process of constitution has been associated not so much with a stable and consistent set of definitions and constructs, but rather with unstable and changing formulations, which reflect the playing out of a dual process of decontestation and contention.Résumé Ces dernières années, les discussions et l'analyse portant sur la question de la définition du tiers-secteur et plus généralement de la société civile se sont développées de manière importante. Cet article aborde une nouvelle phase des études récentes, qui cherche à appréhender la contingence historique, culturelle et politique des frontières de ce domaine. Le processus de constitution de ce secteur est envisagé comme étant le produit de nouveaux discours de décontestation et des controverses au sein des politiques et des pratiques du tiers-secteur. L'article prend

One of the key objectives of the community care reforms of 1990 in the United Kingdom was the development of a flourishing independent sector alongside good quality public services. The aims of the reforms were to increase the available range of options, widen consumer choice and promote independence. The purpose of the study reported here was to examine -from the perspective of older service users, their carers and care managers -experiences at the operational level of arranging, delivering and receiving care services. The findings are based on data gathered in seven local authorities including reviews of case files, policy documents and faceto-face, in-depth interviews with 55 users, 37 carers and 28 care managers. There is evidence of a pronounced emphasis on procedure-based systems of care management. Potentially this has two significant consequences. First, the fostering of personal relationships may be subordinated to the organisation of short-term tasks and thereby may threaten patterns of trust and accountability. Second, the associated fragmentation of the assessment and care management process which in turn can lead to discontinuities of care for users and their carers. The paper concludes that there is still some way to go before care managers as micro-commissioners have sufficient and reliable information or available service capacity to match providers' capabilities with users' and carers' needs.