UK Civil Society: Changes and Challenges in the Age of New Public Governance and the Marketized Welfare State

Abstract

This paper offers an empirically-based overview of changes and challenges for UK civil society in the first years of the twenty-first century. It draws together recent published research findings about volunteering and smaller civil society organizations, discerning themes in published studies by the author and other researchers. It concludes with a discussion about the inter-relationship between changes in civil society and changes in public policy, including new public governance and the marketization of the welfare state.