Donor-driven democracy? Governance implications of foundation-dependent revitalization

Thomson, Dale E.

doi:10.1080/07352166.2018.1451254

Cited by 16 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Scholars have started to explore the relationship between philanthropic foundations and local governments for regime formation. For example, Pill (2018) discusses the rising power of philanthropy in Baltimore, and Thomson’s (2018) work traces the extensive collaboration among philanthropies in Detroit to influence local public policy in economic development, transportation, and land-use planning. Thomson (2018) also suggests that philanthropy is more likely to become a component of a local governing regime when public sector fiscal capacity is weak.…”

Section: Urban Regimes and Nonprofit Leadershipmentioning

confidence: 99%

Governing Without Government: Nonprofit Governance in Detroit and Flint

Reckhow

Downey

Sapotichne

2019

Urban Affairs Review

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Scholars across the social sciences have shown how economic, social, and political changes are weakening local governments and contributing to rising nonprofit activity in urban politics. But these trends could now add up to a new form of decision-making in some American cities. The convergence of public sector austerity and a burgeoning philanthropic and nonprofit sector have created space for what we call “nonprofit governance.” In some cities, nonprofit leaders can guide urban policy, sometimes with limited input from elected officials or citizens. First, we apply insights from studies in comparative politics to demonstrate how nonprofit leadership can expand, particularly in the context of a weak state. Next, we assess trends in public sector capacity, based on local government employment in Midwestern U.S. cities. We closely examine Detroit and Flint due to dramatic declines in local government capacity and recent public sector crises in both cities, focusing on the role of nonprofits in each. These leading-edge cases allow us to trace the development of nonprofit governance and explore different forms of nonprofit and local government relationships.

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Section: Urban Regimes and Nonprofit Leadershipmentioning

confidence: 99%

Governing Without Government: Nonprofit Governance in Detroit and Flint

Reckhow

Downey

Sapotichne

2019

Urban Affairs Review

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“…For instance, in examining 15 years of local government employment data across the US, Reckhow et al (2020) highlight that in cities like Detroit, municipal governments are operating at under half of their original capacity. In this context, Reckhow et al state, the power dynamics of government partnerships with non-profits and philanthropists have shifted, with philanthropic organizations holding increasing power (see also Lipman, 2015;Thomson, 2019). Indeed, as Thomson (2019: 522) argues, under austerity, philanthropic organizations have assumed "leadership responsibilities-planning, development, funding, and coordination-formerly attributed to the city government.…”

Section: Philanthropy and Policymaking Under Racialized Austeritymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2. The Skillman Foundation is based in the Detroit area and controls over $400 million in assets with a focus on children's issues (Thomson, 2019 Foundations must use a legally-prescribed percentage of their endowment (5% in the US) every year. 6.…”

Section: Declaration Of Conflicting Interestsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Philanthropy to the rescue? Detroit’s schools and urban policymaking under austerity

Cohen

2021

Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space

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As municipal governments in the US struggle under austerity, philanthropic elites have seemingly come to the rescue. Their money has not come without strings attached, however. By leveraging political contributions and donations to non-profits, philanthropists have moved beyond funding services and into the promotion of their preferred policies to cash-strapped municipalities. This has meant that the super-wealthy can now set the terrain of urban policy debates in cities struggling under austerity, ignoring democratic processes and often working to actively co-opt or stifle dissent. Through a study of the politics surrounding an impending bankruptcy of the Detroit public school system in the mid-2010s, this article provides crucial insights into the nature of elite-led urban policymaking under conditions of racialized austerity. Specifically, it focuses on how competing coalitions of liberal and conservative philanthropists used their wealth and influence to define the parameters of the policy debate over the future of Detroit’s schools. In doing so, these coalitions constrained the ability of residents with alternative visions to participate in decision-making processes and promoted a market-based system of schooling that served Detroit students poorly. This result must be understood as facilitated by the city’s context of racialized austerity, as manifested both through the financial crisis facing Detroit’s schools and through the system of emergency management used to take over Michigan’s majority-Black municipal institutions. These findings highlight that as philanthropic funding and influence have grown under conditions of racialized austerity, we must critically examine their effects on policymaking and on systems of democratic accountability.

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“…This intermediary role creates several significant consequences including delay and opacity (Colinvaux, 2017), but the often less tangible and visible support provided by foundations including professional guidance, peer support, long‐term relationships and ongoing funding can be overlooked. Foundations may also be active intermediaries through roles as influencers and convenors (Thomson, 2019), introducing donors to grantees, and assessment and evaluation of the accounts and practices of nonprofit beneficiary organizations (Benjamin, 2008).…”

Section: Accountability and Identity In Public Foundationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the accountability and organizational identity of public philanthropic foundations

Williamson

Luke

2021

Int J Management Reviews

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This paper explores accountability and identity in the context of public philanthropic foundations. While public foundations are an important and diverse group, their identity and accountability have been assumed rather than systematically considered and explored. The development of a typology of public foundations drawing on concepts from identity, accountability and stakeholder theories highlights variations across three key dimensions: strategic focus, independence and impact focus. This review informs debate on accountability in public philanthropic foundations in both Australia and internationally. Exploring internal identity‐based drivers of accountability reveals significant variations in accountability regarding stakeholder salience (accountability to whom), how public foundations invest their corpus and whether they identify as being engaged with a geographic or cause‐based community (accountability for what). The contribution made by this paper consists of the extension and clarification of conceptual understandings of the ways in which a philanthropic organization's identity influences its behaviours. The role of organizational identity in understanding accountability of philanthropic foundations facilitates deeper engagement with issues and questions of accountability in these proverbially opaque organizations.

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Donor-driven democracy? Governance implications of foundation-dependent revitalization

Cited by 16 publications

References 21 publications

Governing Without Government: Nonprofit Governance in Detroit and Flint

Governing Without Government: Nonprofit Governance in Detroit and Flint

Philanthropy to the rescue? Detroit’s schools and urban policymaking under austerity

Exploring the accountability and organizational identity of public philanthropic foundations

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