The Netherlands: The Paradox of Government–Nonprofit Partnerships

Abstract

This article illustrates the development of government-nonprofit collaboration in The Netherlands. It first gives an overview of scope and structure of the non-profit sector and voluntary work and then explains the crucial steps in the evolution of partnership arrangement between the public sector and nonprofit institutions. The article describes the past significance of so-called pillarization on the development of the nonprofit sector and its collaboration with the state. In accommodating a broad diversity of nonprofit organizations with different religious and societal background, The Netherlands created an elaborate mechanism for government-nonprofit collaboration in which nonprofit organizations fulfil functions in service delivery and policy formation. However, the sector is now fundamentally fragmented and now has little shared identity left. Paradoxically, its past success also makes it less likely that the Dutch nonprofit sector will be regarded as a solution to current social problems.

Changing Policy Environments in Europe and the Resilience of the Third Sector

“…Simultaneously, the crisis also led to fewer donations and private grants for TSOs in Europe, particularly in Spain (Chaves et al, 2016), but also in countries with traditionally higher levels of private philanthropy, e.g. the Netherlands (Pape et al, 2015). These general developments could be observed in all countries in our study.…”

“…In countries with a corporatist welfare system such as Austria, France, Germany and the Netherlands, TSOs have remained important players in welfare arrangements and social stability has been quite high (More-Hollerweger et al, 2014;Brandsen and Pape, 2015). The biggest change was the shift towards NPM reforms, in which TSOs lost their privileged position in welfare state arrangements.…”

“…In the countries with a corporate welfare system, despite policy shifts, the overall size of the third sector has remained broadly stable. In both Germany and France (between 2008 and 2014), the number of TSOs has in fact been growing CNCRESS, 2017); meanwhile, in Austria and the Netherlands the number of TSOs has remained stable (Brandsen et al, 2016;Simsa et al, 2016). However, changes in policy frameworks have led to changes in the composition of the sector.…”

“…The economic downturn and cost of stimulus packages led to cutbacks in public spending at all levels of government (Lane, 2012;Zamora-Kapoor and Coller, 2014). These austerity policies in the European Union also deeply affected TSOs, which had, in all countries, been receiving at least some measure of public subsidy before the crisis (Pape et al, 2015). Simultaneously, the crisis also led to fewer donations and private grants for TSOs in Europe, particularly in Spain (Chaves et al, 2016), but also in countries with traditionally higher levels of private philanthropy, e.g.…”

New Spaces in the Public Arena: Learnings From Gipuzkoa

“…2 Association for the Co-ordination of Social Organizations in Gipuzkoa. 3 Project launched by the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa and Hezkide Eskola whose mission is to promote volunteering as a means of building an engaged and active civil society rooted in justice and solidarity.…”