ABSTRACT
Volunteering is often thought of in uncritical terms, as an overwhelmingly “good thing,” and as a private act that should be encouraged. However, since the 1960s, and very rapidly since the 1990s, volunteering has become a more central part of public policy, meaning that the act of volunteering finds itself more politicized and examined than at any point. As volunteer-involving organizations play an ever more central role in service delivery, and policy practitioners seek ways to encourage citizens to participate in their communities, often with the goal of reducing the size of government, utilizing volunteering becomes more enticing. This entry seeks to introduce the reader to the changing nature of volunteering and how it has come to be defined and conceptualized by researchers and public administrators in the twenty-first century, explaining how volunteering has developed from a behavior of private choice and local mutual aid to one that is a stated public goal, and another policy tool to be harnessed.
