ABSTRACT
Research and popular literature on philanthropy overemphasize the importance of either the individual philanthropists or foundations, or the combination of the two (see Salamon, 1992; Clotfelter and Ehrlich, 1999). Such an emphasis might give the false impression that philanthropy can best be understood by studying foundations through which philanthropists channel their gifts. In this chapter we suggest that attention should also be paid to other channels, especially those involving the state. States, too, channel their resources towards a humanitarian cause, the education of other nations and communities, the protection of the environment, and so on, to countries other than their own. While it is odd to call states philanthropists, the work they do to help others outside their areas of jurisdictions could be similar to that performed by philanthropists and may even flow from similar kinds of impulses. It could also be suggested that in some instances, the politics of foreign assistance is not dissimilar to that of philanthropy. Our point here is that channels for philanthropy can also be found in formal structures and institutions. We do not see such formal structures as a contradiction to the clandestine philanthropic channels and networks we discussed in Chapter 3- For us, formal and informal channels manifest the different dimensions of philanthropy we presented in Chapter 1.
