ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the role of welfare organizations as an associative cure to the (alleged) pathologies of the contemporary welfare state, i.e. anonymous, depersonalizing and inflexible state bureaucracies. Although welfare states differ in ‘their’ reliance on voluntary associations, all share a basic perception that voluntary agencies should be ‘… innovative and flexible, to protect particularistic interests, to promote volunteer citizen participation, and to meet needs not met by government’ (Kramer 1981:4). Many commentators (see Roßteutscher, Chapter 1) have argued that voluntary associations generally deliver many positive benefits: the rebuilding of social trust; the re-vitalization of the sense of community; the political re-mobilization of the citizenry; and foster feelings of mutual solidarity against the anonymous apparatus of a faltering welfare state. This chapter examines two aspects that are crucial to an assessment of the nature of the shift from welfare through state bureaucracy to welfare through organizations. First, voluntary welfare organizations’ role as deliverers of social services; and second, ‘their’ capacity to serve clients through volunteer work. If welfare organizations only provide services to a limited proportion of potential clients then the associative model of welfare would be undermined. However, if they exhibit the capacity to provide welfare services with the assistance of volunteers, then the associative model could be seen as more robust.
