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Modernizing Democracy pp 203–215Cite as

Developments in the Third Sector: The Last Decade and a Cautious View into the Future

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Abstract

The chapter discusses major challenges for the third sector and its associations and assesses them on the basis of literature and a quasi-Delphi research with 37 experts. Five trends are identified as the most important: increasing managerialism as a way to gain legitimacy, changes in the relationship with the public sector due to financial crises and neoliberal ideology, blurring boundaries between the sectors, new demands on associations, and new forms of civic engagement.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Among others, this saying is accredited to Niels Bohr, Karl Valentin, Mark Twain, and Winston Churchill.

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  1. Vienna University of Economics and Business, Vienna, Austria

    Michael Meyer & Ruth Simsa

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  1. Michael Meyer
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  1. Department of Political Science, University of Münster, Münster, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

    Matthias Freise

  2. Department of Political Science, University of Münster, Münster, Germany

    Thorsten Hallmann

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Meyer, M., Simsa, R. (2014). Developments in the Third Sector: The Last Decade and a Cautious View into the Future. In: Freise, M., Hallmann, T. (eds) Modernizing Democracy. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0485-3_17

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