Demand-based Theories for Non-Profit Organizations

Abstract

Social commentators throughout world have become increasingly dismayed at the persistence of deprivation, poverty and unemployment, despite decades of economic prosperity. Recognition that the existing redistributive functions of the contemporary welfare state 'do not seem to have alleviated the plight of a significant economic and social underclass' has led governments of various political persuasions to explore new ways of dealing with this ostensibly intractable problem. Perhaps inspired by the Blair government and Clinton administration's well-documented search for a 'Third Way' , conservative politicians have also sought to develop and implement new ways of approaching effective welfare delivery. For example, the Bush administration in the United States has emphasised the importance of religious and other not-for-profit groups in official welfare programs, despite potential constitutional obstacles. Similarly, the Howard government in Australia has experimented with alternative systems of delivering social services, which include the non-profit sector.