Civil society in welfare–The roles and potentials of professional nonprofits and voluntary organizations

Abstract

We explore the potential of civil society as an ideological and organizational force in contemporary Norwegian welfare. To guide our analysis, we developed a conceptual framework of civil society’s role in welfare with four key dimensions related to civil society as a service provider, a pioneer, a value guardian and an improver or advocate. We differentiated between nonprofits that rely primarily on paid staff and voluntary organizations dominated by volunteers and asked: What different roles do voluntary organizations and professional nonprofit welfare providers play in today’s Norwegian welfare society? Our empirical strategy consisted of documentary studies and interview data collected from Norwegian municipalities between 2022 and 2023, comparing substance abuse care, in which nonprofit organizations dominate, with elderly care, in which voluntary organizations are more central. We found that Civil Society Organizations played a limited role compared to the state, but could serve as an important vehicle for welfare change when citizens found such change necessary. While professional nonprofit organizations were involved to a greater extent than voluntary organizations in formulating policies, also the latter could have an ideological influence on services.