Development of Civil Society Organizations—Caught Up in the Framework of Different Welfare Systems

Tatjana Rakar () and Zinka Kolarič
Additional contact information
Tatjana Rakar: Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Zinka Kolarič: Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

Social Sciences, 2025, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-16

Abstract: This article examines the processes of governmentalization and marketization in enabling the development of civil society organizations within different welfare systems. It also attempts to explain how these processes impact volunteerism, distinguishing the service from the expressive roles of the civil society sector. Theoretical findings are tested and illustrated using data from the Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project. Further, data for Slovenia are included as an example of a distinct post-socialist welfare system. The data were collected from a representative sample of Slovenian civil society organizations based on the methodology of the Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project. As revealed, in line with institutionalist theories, different welfare systems show path dependency by determining the basis and level of the professionalization of the civil society sector, influencing the approaches of governmentalization and marketization, and indirectly changing the role of volunteerism.

Keywords: civil society organizations; welfare systems; development; professionalization; volunteerism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/3/182/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/3/182/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:14:y:2025:i:3:p:182-:d:1614261

Access Statistics for this article

Social Sciences is currently edited by Ms. Yvonne Chu

More articles in Social Sciences from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().