Hungarian nonprofit sector twenty years after: the situation of the third sector and impact of the economic crisis (original) (raw)
Development or reflections of the nonprofit sector in Central and Eastern Europe and Hungary
Politics in Central Europe
The CEE countries are celebrating the 15th anniversary of joining the European Union. The ‘feast’ is also of note because the EP elections are just in front of us. Instead of weighing up the expected results, we can surmise that the resolution of Central European voters is now weaker in terms of belonging to the European community and their trust in democratic institutions is also considerably lower than it was in the transition era. But what happened? The answer is too complex to be summarised in just one study; the examination of this issue would require a complex analysis of facts from economic transformation to transitions in social and economic subsystems. Of these elements, I wish to introduce the system-level transformation and the current state of civil society.
Recent History of the Nonprofit Sector in Hungary
2002
* Figures from the court register of NPOs updated on the basis of a sample survey. ** Figures from the court register of NPOs-not updated. *** Figures from the statistical register of NPOs updated on the basis of annual statistical surveys.
The possible role of the non-profit sector in Hungary
Voluntas, 1990
A common feature of most non-profit theories is their concentration on the service-providing role of non-profit organisations, and the neglect of their redistributional role. At the cost of some simplification, there are two possible public policy responses to social inequalities: (1) the ...
Development or reflections of the nonprofit sector in Central and
POLITICS IN CENTRAL EUROPE , 2020
The CEE countries are celebrating the 15th anniversary of joining the European Union. The 'feast' is also of note because the EP elections are just in front of us. Instead of weighing up the expected results, we can surmise that the resolution of Central Euro-pean voters is now weaker in terms of belonging to the European community and their trust in democratic institutions is also considerably lower than it was in the transition era. But what happened? The answer is too complex to be summarised in just one study; the examination of this issue would require a complex analysis of facts from economic transformation to transitions in social and economic subsystems. Of these elements, I wish to introduce the system-level transformation and the current state of civil society.
Since the regime change Hungary is undoubtedly one of the most active kin-states in Europe which from time to time led to conflicts with the neighbouring countries. An important – and slightly less conflictual – component of Hungary's kin-state policy is the cross-border financial support system which had and still has an important role in the forming and upholding of the Hungarian minority nonprofit sector in the neighbouring contries. In my presentation I would like to address the case of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia and seek the answer to the following questions: 1. What demands did the organizations have towards Hungary’s support system? 2. How did the supply side meet and/or shape those demands? 3. Which nonprofit organizations did profit the most from the fiancial support system? 4. How did the changes in the financial support system possibly affect the Hungarian nonprofit sector in Slovakia?
DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), 2006
The paper gives an overview of the roles played by the Hungarian nonprofit organizations in the EU accession process. These roles are as follows: • To encourage and organize a dialogue and direct contacts between the "old" and "new" European citizens. • To assist people in becoming informed about and involved in European networks, to build solidarity and develop participative European citizenship. • To tackle the problems which constitute serious obstacles in the way of meeting European standards. The paper also tries to identify the very first impacts of the EU accession on the Hungarian nonprofit sector. The authors detect the implications of the regional approach for the cooperation between nonprofit organizations and analyze whether the Hungarian third sector and its governmental partner institutions are prepared for a prompt reaction to the accessibility of the EU structural funds 2 .
THE NONPROFIT SECTOR IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC
Abstract In an attempt to extend Salamon, Anheier, and Associates’ (1999) study I analyze the evolution and scope of the Czech nonproflt sec- tor after 1995. Data limitations do not allow an exact extension. The available data suggest that with respect to expenditures, full-time em- ployment and the number of nonproflt institutions the Czech nonproflt sector is still growing, although at a decreasing rate. I also pay at- tention to the evolution of Czech nonproflt law and argue that the slow evolution of legal regulations and weak enforcement of existing law slowed down the growth of the Czech nonproflt sector. Too lit- tle emphasis on accountability and transparency of nonproflt entities negatively afiects trustworthiness of the nonproflt sector. Keywords: Czech Republic, nonproflt sector, evolution Iwould like to thank my supervisor Andreas Ortmann for his helpful comments.
A profile of the non-profit sector in Romania
Voluntas, 1997
With the revolution of December 1989, citizens of Romania gained the right to form non-profit organisations for the first time in 40 years. Since then, Romania has begun to explore the frontiers of private initiative through the introduction of non-profit, non-governmental organisations as well as profit-making businesses. In this article we review the historical development and legal framework of Romania's emerging non-profit sector. We also provide the first empirical snapshot of that sector by applying the international Classification of Nonprofit Organizations (ICNPO) developed by Salamon and Anheier to 499 organisations identified in the Soros Catalogue of Nongovernmental Organizations in Romania: 1991-92. Finally, we speculate on the future development of the Romanian non-profit sector by considering alternative scenarios involving the relationships between indigenous nonprofits, international NGOs and the Romanian government.
The goal of the paper is to analyse the economic determinants of the non-profit sector in Slovakia. In contrast to the neoclassical market failure approach, we build on the institutionalist and systems-theoretic framework that draws attention to the shortcomings of the dominant institutional structures of the private for-profit and public sectors. Utilizing a representative survey of 60 nonprofits, we identify their key characteristics and single out the " supply-side " and " interdependence " theories as their most useful explanations. These results accentuate the role of nonprofits in realizing societal values, while taking account of institutional complementarities, regional variations, and legal peculiarities.
Review of Economic Perspectives, 2014
Non-governmental organizations play a vital role in the economy of every country. They are not only providers of special type of services that public sector is not capable of providing in full quality and quantity, and private sector is not interested in, but they are also watch dogs of the society and builders of active citizenship. Thus they have become an object of many research studies. The divergence in their goals, sizes, roles, types of services provided, and ways of funding make NGOs an interesting subject. As a goal for our research we therefore chose a comparison of the development and state of the Slovak and Austrian non-profit sector in the view of historical development of both countries. Consequently, we want to evaluate the funding of NGOs in Slovakia and Austria. In the paper we map the development of non-profit sector in Slovakia and Austria and in the context of a common historical development we assess a current state and a potential of economic strength of NGOs in both countries. The output is comparison of funding of NGOs in Slovakia and Austria based on statistical data evaluation. Subsequently, we propose recommendation for suitable diversification of the funding sources.
The Engineering Economics, 2017
The article investigates differences in socioeconomic determinants of the size of the nonprofit sector serving in the Visegrad Countries. The question is whether there are different power and direction of socioeconomic determinants of the size of the nonprofit sector serving households. The results are based on panel data regression in 2000-2014. GDP per capita is the significant determinant of the nonprofit sector in the country with no tax assignation. The different systems of care for the elderly have an impact on the determinants of the size of the nonprofit sector serving households (old-age dependency ratio, life expectation index). The government failure theory was established only in the Czech Republic where is an obvious competition between non-profit sector and health care system. In the most Visegrad countries, nonprofit organizations help governmental sector to cope with increasing number of refugees in need coming from war regions. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee....
The Evolution of the Third Sector in Slovakia
In this paper I describe and analyze the evolution of the third (nonprofit) sector in the Slovak Republic. I examine the number of organizations belonging to the sec- tor, the number of people the sector employs, the contributions of volunteers, the expenditures of the sector, and its revenues. I argue that the main forces aecting the development of the sector are the legislative framework and the government's attitude towards nonprofits. Data suggest a slight growth of the sector over the examined period 1996 - 2001. Its scope, however, is still significantly less than that of third sectors in developed countries. My analysis is hampered by the fact that both, quality of and access to the data are wanting. I argue that both better data and better access to them is ultimately in every stakeholder's interest, be it govern- ment, nonprofits, their donors, or their beneficiaries.
Institute for Social Policy, 2007
Current research findings suggest that civil society organisations' (CSO) roles considerably vary between countries, depending on the welfare state they are embedded in. This study investigates CSOs' functions and compares their relative importance in Austria and the Czech Republic. It discusses different indicators to measure CSO' functions and argues whether the findings of this paper support the assignment of Austria and the Czech Republic to the socialdemocratic and the statist non-profit regime, that are accompanied by a certain functional orientation. Methodology To this end, the study investigates organizational data from a sample of 523 CSOs in Austria and the Czech Republic, referring to a theoretical concept of CSOs' three main functions. Descriptions of the activities and objectives of CSOs that derive from interviews with key informants from eighteen CSOs from both countries supplement the quantitative analysis. Findings The findings contradict the assignment of Austria and the Czech Republic to non-profit regimes with an expressive-dominant third sector. According to organizational data, in both countries the service function is more important than advocacy or community building. The way the functions are fulfilled, however, depends on the relation of CSOs with other relevant actors of the mixed welfare economy in each country. Originality The article enhances existing research by a conceptual framework on CSOs' function, which does not restrict CSOs to fulfil either the service or the expressive function, but enables to measure contributions to several functions simultaneously. Data show that the majority of CSOs indeed contribute to more than one function.
Informality and nonprofits in East Central European capitalism
2000
This paper presents an analysis of nonprofit organizations—the organizational infrastructure of civil society—in East Central Europe, from one important respect: by placing them in the context of the comparative historical sociology of the region's widespread informality. This involves two steps:(1) summarizing an argument about the role of informality in East Central European capitalism today in order to (2) outline its implications for the study of post-state-socialist nonprofits. Most of the empirical examples come from Hungary.
The Nonprofit Sector : Toward an International Scope
2008
We are becoming a more globalized citizenry. With technological advancements, we are more aware of the events around the world. Internet capabilities allow donors to make donations to nonprofit organizations in developing countries. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation directs grants to global development and global health (www.gatesfoundation.org). With all this international nonprofit development, can it be predicted which countries are more likely to have more nonprofit organizations? This study outlines some of the research on the factors that are present in countries with a strong nonprofit sector. It follows with a brief regression analysis suggesting that, while this factors may be present, they are not a predictor to how many nonprofit organizations will develop.
Defining the Nonprofit Sector: Some Lessons from History
Voluntas, 2000
This article seeks to establish whether the structural-operational definition of the sector, used by the Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project (JHCNSP), is universal in its applicability. Historical case studies of primary health care and social housing provision in nineteenth-century England demonstrate that the definition cannot accommodate the institutional diversity of earlier periods and does not produce meaningful sectoral distinctions. The structural-operational definition rules out of the sector a significant proportion of nonstatutory, nonprofit maximizing providers. In particular, it excludes the mutual aid organizations, which are widely recognized as important for the development of civil society and which have historically been considered to be key components of the sector. These case studies suggest that the structural-operational definition limits the capacity of the JHCNSP to fulfil its aim of establishing “the factors that promote or retard the sector's development” owing to potential measurement errors and the pattern of development that the project implicitly assumes for the nonprofit sector.