SEMINAR SYLLABUS 975:493 and 834:600

Monday evenings, Spring Term 2007, 6:00-8:40

Nothing is as useful, Kurt Lewin once said, as a good theory. Yet scholars and practitioners alike have tended to avoid developing theories to understand and guide the work of nonprofit and voluntary organizations. It is the purpose of this seminar to examine the role of theory in the third sector, and to understand the ways in which it may contribute to the health and vitality of nonprofit organizations.

A special effort in this seminar will be made to introduce students to the ways in which nonprofit and voluntary organizations seek to serve the urban community of Camden and its surrounding area.

The seminar is intended to serve undergraduate students interested in the third sector, as well as graduate students in the applied social sciences of city planning, social work, education, business, and community health.

ASSIGNED READING FOR THE SEMINAR WILL INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING (IN FULL OR PART):

Jon Van Til, MAPPING THE THIRD SECTOR. New York: Foundation

Center, 1988.

Jon Van Til, GROWING CIVIL SOCIETY. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2000.

Gary Grobman, AN INTRODUCTION TO THE NONPROFIT SECTOR: A PRACTICAL APPROACH FOR THE 21^ST CENTURY. Harrisburg: White Hat, 2006, 2^ND ED.

Each of these books will be available in the bookstore. If students do not want to purchase all three books, they are encouraged to share copies among themselves.

PLAN OF SESSIONS:

WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION (JAN 16)

Among the major transformations of our time is the emergence of the nonprofit sector as a major actor in the world of public and social policy. In 1997, for example, three of the leading candidates for the next Republican Presidential nomination (Elizabeth Dole, Lamar Alexander and Colin Powell) primarily occupied themselves as nonprofit organization leaders. Legislation to restrict nonprofit organization advocacy is often presented before Congress, backed by powerful political forces. Heavily funded study groups on philanthropy and civic renewal, such as the "Bradley Commission", generate reports of dubious scholarship tinged with the ideology of their sponsors.

In such a fast-moving world of policy challenge, it is crucial to develop a focused structure in which scholars directly address the manifold issues of policy in this field. Issues like assessing third sector-governmental partnerships, evaluating the merits of donee organizations, addressing the role of the third sector in ameliorating the crises of work and welfare, and balancing the contributions of volunteers with paid employees daily confront Americans in their roles as citizens, givers, volunteers, taxpayers, and employees. It is these issues that are given central attention in this seminar.

WEEKS 2-3: THEORETICAL LOCUS AND EMERGENCE OF THE SECTOR (JAN 23, 30)

The third sector in the classical traditions of social and democratic theory. This section will involve readings from Jon Van Til's MAPPING THE THIRD SECTOR. Major issues to be considered will be: 1) How should we define the sector?; 2) Where does the sector stand in relation to traditions of democratic theory?; 3) How blurred are the boundaries between the sectors?; 4) What are the gains and costs of professionalization?

Historical development and contemporary dilemmas. When we think of the rise of the third sector, such issues arise as: 1) Why did the nonprofit sector emerge when it did?; 2) Are nonprofits illiberal or conservative forces in society? 3) What role does religion play in the third sector?; 4) Can the nonprofit sector be over-managed?

READ: MAPPING THE THIRD SECTOR, pp. 1-112.

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE NONPROFIT SECTOR, chs. 1-3

WEEK 4: A CIVIL SOCIETY IN AN UNCIVIL WORLD (FEB 6)

This session introduces the third sector as a social space in which individuals and groups address their own needs, and the needs of others, for company, service, and change. This "third space" has been the organizational home to persons of so different a set of views as Martin Luther King and Elizabeth Dole, to Mother Teresa and Malcolm X. As the "farewell state" comes to replace the discredited "welfare state", this third sector plays an increasing role in society. This session explains the changing institutional landscape of modern society, as new roles emerge or disappear for government, business, families, and the third sector.

READ: GROWING CIVIL SOCIETY, chs. 1-2.

WEEK 5: THE POLITICS OF THE THIRD SECTOR (FEB 13)

The third sector is hardly independent from other major institutions in society, and it is frequently the subject of governmental regulation. It becomes the home of the "outs" when elections are lost, and is frequently the locus of ideological disputes. The coming to power of a Republican Congress in 1994 has led to a consistent effort to defund liberal nonprofit organizations, to restrain nonprofit advocacy, and to enhance the role of community- and faith-based social service organizations. Recognizing this new politics of voluntarism and philanthropy is crucial to understanding the nature of modern political conflict.

READ: GROWING CIVIL SOCIETY, chs. 3, 5.

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE NONPROFIT SECTOR, ch. 5

WEEK 6 (FEB 20): READING WEEK

WEEK 7 (FEB 27) THE DARK SIDE OF VOLUNTARY ACTION (FEB 21)

When we think about sectors, no one societal arena contains only heroes; nor does any contain only villains. The third sector has held its share of both. This session takes a walk on the dark side of the third sector, and examines United Way of America under the corrupt administration of William Aramony, the Foundation for a New Era under the misguided zeal of John Bennett, and the general temptation faced by many nonprofit leaders to emulate an often inappropriate set of business ideals and practices.

READ: GROWING CIVIL SOCIETY, chs. 6, 8.

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE NONPROFIT SECTOR, chs. 4, 7.

WEEK 8: ELEMENTS OF NONPROFIT POLICY (MAR 6)

As the field of nonprofit policy emerges, it begins to be possible to identify major positions. On the one hand, liberals and moderates speak of the importance of "public-private partnerships", in which government and third sector organizations work together to achieve public ends. Neo-conservatives, on the other hand, hold to the primacy of the two "private" sectors--business and voluntary--and call for the minimization of government. This difference in viewpoint gives rise to issues of "philanthropic sufficiency or insufficiency", tax exemption, and the role of volunteers.

READ: GROWING CIVIL SOCIETY, chs. 10-11.

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE NONPROFIT SECTOR, chs. 6, 8.

WEEKS 9-11: ISSUES IN NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION MANAGEMENT (MARCH 20, 27, APRIL 3)

As the number of tax-exempt nonprofit organizations continues to expand meteorically (100-fold over the past 50 years), nonprofit management has emerged as a major administrative profession. These sessions review a number of challenges faced by today’s nonprofit manager, and offers advice in ways of dealing with these perplexing issues. Students are challenged in this section to think about proposals that might extend the impact and contribution of a particular nonprofit organization.

READ: GROWING CIVIL SOCIETY, ch. 7.

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE NONPROFIT SECTOR, chs. 9-17.

WEEK 12: NATIONAL SERVICE IN THEORY AND PRACTICE (APRIL 10)

The major third sector policy initiative taken by President Clinton during his time in office has involved the creation of AmeriCorps, the national service program. This session reviews the development of this program and its operation as a limited, but innovative, form of public-private partnership.

READ: GROWING CIVIL SOCIETY, chs. 4, 9.

WEEK 13: THE GLOBALIZATION OF THE THIRD SECTOR (APRIL 18)

With the emergence of a global economics, politics, and society, there has also come a world consciousness of the role of voluntary and philanthropic activity. International organizations like CIVICUS and ISTR have brought leaders and scholars together, and the nations of the world are learning to adapt third sector institutions and structures to their particular situations and needs.

WEEK 14: MOVING TOWARD AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE (APRIL 25)

A most unsettling aspect of the American future involves the withdrawal by both government and business from their traditional roles as universal employers. How will the third sector confront a world in which fewer and fewer people enjoy the rights and privileges of steady well-paid employment? These and other problematic issues of the future are explored in the concluding sessions.

REQUIREMENTS OF THE SEMINAR:

It is hoped that students attending the seminar for full credit will choose to:

1. attend all sessions, unless excused, participating fully in class discussions
2. complete class assignments as assigned
3. complete a final essay, and
4. sit for a final examination.

A grade reflecting this work will be assigned by the instructor. Students whose work is outstanding on each of the four criteria above will receive a grade of "A", with lower grades awarded accordingly.

THE TERM ESSAY/PROPOSAL

Students will be expected to write a term essay that takes the form of a proposal for the establishment of a new nonprofit organization, or the development of a program to extend the work of an existing nonprofit organization. This proposal may reflect the work of an actual or an imagined program.