From the Third Sector to the Big Society: How Changing UK Government Policies Have Eroded Third Sector Trust

The third sector in Europe: Five theses

In recent years, the third or voluntary sector has become more important for ‘Europe’, as indicated by the 1997 Communication of the European Commission and various Declarations attached to the EU Treaties. These official statements not only suggest greater political interest in the third sector, they also seem to indicate that the European Union is taking a more active role in policy-making in...

The impact of the third sector in the UK: The case of social housing

This paper reports the findings of one component of the impact study being undertaken in the UK as part of the Johns Hopkins Comparative Non-profit Sector project. Drawing upon a literature review, expert interviews and a focus group, the paper summarises evidence on the impact of the third sector in social housing in the UK organised using the functions and drawbacks thought to be characterist...

Performance Contracts, Corporate Governance and the Third Sector: The Case of the NSW Community Legal Sector

This paper will investigate the effects of performance contracts on the governance of third sector organisations to which governments have outsourced responsibility for delivery of important human and welfare services. As governments have retreated from direct delivery of such services under the impetus of the New Public Management (NPM) reform agenda, they increasingly have had to rely on thir...

‘The New Degree?’ Constructing Internships in the Third Sector

The recent economic recession has impacted substantially on the graduate labour market, with many graduates now struggling to find secure employment in professional careers. In this context, temporary, unpaid 'internships' have emerged as increasingly important as a 'way in' to work for this group. Yet while there has been much media and policy debate on internships, academic consideration has ...

Bringing Society Back In: Civil Society, Social Capital, and Third Sector