Nonprofit Organizations and Civil Society in the United States

Nonprofit Organizations and Civil Society in the United State

Tax and Spending Effects of Municipal Enterprises: The Case of Florida Electric Utilities

This study tests the appropriateness of two competing hypotheses drawn from the public finance literature about the impact of municipal utility profits on local tax and spending patterns. By comparing data from cities that own their electric utilities to nonelectric cities, this research finds that neither city expenditures nor property tax rates are signifIcantly affected by the transfer of profits. The evidence suggests that the profits are used by cities with relatively weak tax bases to obtain revenues from tax-exempt institutions, homeowners, and nonresidents

“Citizen Satisfaction With Local Government Services: A Test of Individual, Jurisdictional, and City Specific Explanations

What are the sources of citizen satisfaction with local government? Our answers to this question remain fragmentary due to limits in our tools of investigation which have not been well suited for disentangling individual- and jurisdictional-level determinants of citizens' evaluations and distinguishing these from city-specific effects. We employ a comparison group design to jointly assess three theoretical accounts of the source of satisfaction. The results point to a very understandable account of satisfaction with local government. On the individual's side of the relationship, we find an important role for local government efficacy and attachment to the local community. And on the government,s, our model points to what officials actually do for citizens: provision of some level and quality of services

With Heart and Soul: Closing a Faith-Based Refugee Resettlement Office

This paper begins with a brief review of the literature on nonprofit and faith-based service organizations, many of whom rely on government grants and contracts. The following section summarizes refugee resettlement policy and partners in the U.S and examines how its implementation relies on local communities and nonprofit agencies. Only a few social scientists have begun research directed at understanding the process and impact of refugee resettlement (Ives, Sinha and Cnaan 2010; Nawyn 2006, 2010). Yet this topic connects to several key dimensions that are of current concern in the broader discussions of public-nonprofit partnerships, faith-based services, inter-organizational coordination, human service networks, and so on. The study is based on document analysis, personal observation, and in-depth interviews with current and former employees of the nonprofit agency, its national headquarters, and other agencies. By examining the case of a faith-based agency in North Carolina, I show how an agency that was largely reliant upon federal and state funding became so financially fragile that it resorted to closing its most successful and visible refugee resettlement office. This paper is the beginning of a broader study of the complex U.S. refugee resettlement system, policies, and programs

The empirical evidence for citizen information and a local market for public goods

In their 1993 article in this Review, Paul Teske, Mark Schneider, Michael Mintrom, and Samuel Best sought to establish the microfoundations for a model of a competitive market for public 5 services between local governments in polycentric regions. An important part of their model focused on subgroups of informed citizens, especially recent movers. Theoretical analysis was supplemented by an empirical study of the factors shaping accuracy of Long Island homeowners' information about relative expenditures and tax rates of their school districts. David Lowery, W. E. Lyons and Ruth Hoogland DeHoog criticize the relevance of this empirical evidence, suggesting the atypical nature of education as a service (especially in this site) and challenging the sufficiency of the demonstrated levels of information for generating a competitive market. Teske and his colleagues reply by pointing out the general importance of education throughout American local policymaking and by defending the relevance of their measures and conclusions for their market model

Invited Commentary on Brown, Potoski, and Van Slyke, “Managing Public Service Contracts: Aligning Values, Institutions, and Markets

Since contracting for public services has become a primary tool in the toolkit of elected and administrative officials over the last two decades, it is heartening to see the growth of interest and research on the subject. The Brown, Potoski, and Van Slyke article rightly directs our attention to the key issues and research on contracting that go well beyond the political debates and the guides for practice that were the usual fare in the discussions in the 1980s. The authors make good use of the rich research, some of which is their own, on contracting for services, particularly at the local levels

Metropolitan Fragmentation and Suburban Ghettos: Some Empirical Observations on Institutional Racism

Are citizens in predominantly black neighborhoods or communities better off with public services provided by a consolidated government where blacks are in the minority than when they control municipal government in an autonomous suburban setting? This paper reports using a comparison group design to investigate four hypotheses: that blacks in predominantly black suburbs in a fragmented environment (1) enjoy more services, (2) evidence lower dissatisfaction with services, (3) are less disaffected, and (4) participate more than minorities in a consolidated government. Contrary to public choice expectations, the findings indicate substantial evidence for traditional reformers' beliefs in the advantages of consolidated government

City Managers Under Fire: How Conflict Leads to Turnover

To evaluate the influence of turnover among city management professionals, data were gathered and analyzed in a study that followed the careers of 133 city managers in Florida since 1986. In contrast to previous studies, conflict was found to be a frequent cause of turnover among those city managers who left their positions during the study period. The type of conflict involved made a difference. Situations involving policy or style disagreements between a manager and the city council were more likely to cause turnover than conflictual conditions emerging from disagreement among council factions. However, other factors, such as electoral changes in council composition and opposition by a popularly elected mayor, were found meaningful. More concern for conflict and conflict-management skills among city management professionals and educators may help solve areas of conflict

Competition, Negotiation, and Cooperation: Three Models for Service Contracting

Contracting for public services from public or private suppliers is now a common prescription to improve government efficiency. The competitive bidding model is usually viewed as the ideal contracting process. However, this article explains that two other approaches—the negotiation model and the cooperation model—may be more appropriate under certain conditions. The primary factors that are likely to determine which of the three approaches is most suitable are (a) the characteristics of the external environment (especially the number of service suppliers), (b) the level of organizational resources (e.g., personnel, funds, time, and expertise), and (c) the degree of uncertainty about funding, future events, service technologies, and causal relationships between service outputs and desired outcomes. The main point is that there is no one best way to contract for services; rather, government units should adapt their contracting procedures to both internal external conditions to implement service contracting in an effective manner

The Role of the Nonprofit Sector Amid Political Change: Contrasting Approaches in the Slovak Republic

This paper focuses on the role, functions, and activities of the nonprofit sector in Slovakia from 1993 to 1998 during a critical time in the country’s development, using Salamon’s classification of the sector’s relationships with government as opposition, partner, or agent. Relying on personal interviews with participants and observers, the paper examines two key political events to illustrate these issues— the debate about the proposed Law on Foundations, and the 1998 Parliamentary elections