State, Society and the Third Sector: Changing to Meet New Challenges
| Autor: | Kathy L. Brock |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2000 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Canadian Studies. 35:203-220 |
| ISSN: | 1911-0251 0021-9495 |
| Popis: | This article begins with a short discussion of the three core principles of parliamentary government in order to establish a framework for evaluating the Voluntary Sector Initiative (VSI): representative government, responsible government and the tradition of dissent. The following sections briefly describe the VSI and assess it in relation to the three principles. The VSI proposes a fundamental change in the operation of government to meet the challenges of the new century and, while it is too soon to assess its prospects for achieving its objectives, some areas of potential promise and danger may be identified. Afin d'etablir un cadre de travail permettant d'evaluer l'Initiative du secteur benevole, cet article commence par une courte discussion sur les trois principes au coeur du gouvernement parlementaire, soit un gouvernement representatif, un gouvernement responsable et la tradition du refus de participer. Les sections qui suivent decrivent brievement l'ISB et I'evaluent a la lumiere des trois principes en question. L'ISB propose un changement fondamental dans le fonctionnement du gouvernement pour qu'il puisse faire face aux defis du nouveau siecle. Et, bien qu'il soit trop tot pour evaluer ses chances d'atteindre ses objectifs, il est possible de cerner certaines zones potentiellement dangereuses ou prometteuses. By the end of the twentieth century, the voluntary sector in countries like Canada, the United States and Britain, was facing pressure from two direct tions. First, citizens were demanding more from the sector. In the 1960s and 1970s, citizens had reacted against the totalitarian and paternalistic regimes of the past and embraced the human rights ideals arising from the Second World War, thus becoming more critical of governments even within relatively complacent western liberal democracies. The idealism characterizing this period of protest was largely spent by the 1970s, but it left a lingering sense of disillusionment with state actors, a deep scepticism of authority and a bitter awareness that change in governance was necessary, but not necessarily positive. At the same time, the information revolution, rising education levels, an increasingly diverse citizenry and the increased social mobilization of citizens combined to create higher expectations of governments. This fundamental ambivalence about the state erupted by the end of the century both in street protests against global governance and domestic policy changes cutting back citizen services, and in the tendency of citizens to turn away from state actors to representative non-governmental organizations to defend not only their interests and promote their rights with governments but also to deliver needed services as governments withdrew from programme delivery. Pressure on the voluntary sector also arose from governments as they began to rethink the relationship between the state and society. The unwieldy growth of the welfare state, spiraling debts, ethnic and national differences and north-south global tensions forced a redefinition and streamlining of government in Canada, the United States, Britain and similar countries. Cutbacks to the bureaucracy involved downloading services to other levels of government, the private sector and the voluntary sector, whether by active choice or by default. During this time of tightening financial constraint, besieged and belittled governments became painfully aware of their loss of legitimacy and respect with citizens and they began to forge new links and partnerships with citizen organizations for the delivery of services with the hope of restoring their own legitimacy. By the end of the century, political leaders realized the need to bridge the growing chasm between citizens and the state, and they began to engage citizens more directly in the political decision-making process through organizations formerly, and still occasionally, dismissed as "special interests." As the harsh lights of publicity exposed weaknesses within the voluntary sector itself, the state turned its attention to building capacity within the sector to support its expanding role in the policy world. … |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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