Discussion: View Thread

Voluntary Regulation of NGOs and Nonprofits:
An Accountability Club Framework

Edited by
Mary Kay Gugerty and Aseem Prakash
University of Washington

Cambridge University Press, 2010
http://www.cup.es/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521763142


How can nonprofit organizations and NGOs demonstrate accountability to
stakeholders and show that they are using funds appropriately and delivering on
their promises? Many nonprofit stakeholders, including funders and regulators,
have few opportunities to observe nonprofit internal management and policies.
Such information deficits make it difficult for principals to differentiate
credible nonprofits from less credible ones. This volume examines a key
instrument employed by nonprofits to respond to these challenges: voluntary
accountability clubs. These clubs are voluntary, rule-based governance systems
created and sponsored by nongovernmental actors. By participating in
accountability clubs, nonprofits agree to abide by certain rules regarding
internal governance in order to send a signal of quality to key principals.
Nonprofit voluntary programs are relatively new but are spreading rapidly
across the globe. This book investigates how the emergence, design, and success
of such initiatives vary across a range of sectors and institutional contexts
in the United States, the Netherlands, Africa, and Central Europe.


Contents

The Club Framework:
1. Voluntary regulation of NGOs and nonprofits: an introduction to the club
framework
Mary Kay Gugerty and Aseem Prakash


Part I. Club Emergence

2. Filling the gaps in nonprofit accountability: applying the club perspective
in the US legal system
Dana Brakman Reiser

3. Trends and patterns in third-party accreditation clubs
Woods Bowman

4. Self-regulation at the state level: nonprofit membership associations and
club emergence
Mary Tschirhart


Part II. Club Sponsorship and Club Design

5. Nonprofit infrastructure associations as reluctant clubs
Dennis R. Young

6. Foundation accountability clubs and the search for philanthropic standards
Peter Frumkin

7. Do self-regulation clubs work? Some evidence from Europe and some caveats
from economic theory
Andreas Ortmann and Katarina Svtkov

8. NGO accountability clubs in the humanitarian sector: social dimensions
of club emergence and design
Maryam Zarnegar Deloffre


Part III. Club Design and Effectiveness

9. The impact of sponsorship on club standards and design
Angela Bies

10. The emergence and design of NGO clubs in Africa
Mary Kay Gugerty

11. The benefits of accreditation clubs for fundraising nonprofits
Rene Bekkers


Future Research and Conclusions:

12. Conclusions: nonprofit accountability clubs
Aseem Prakash and Mary Kay Gugerty



********************************************

Aseem Prakash
Professor, Department of Political Science
Walker Family Professor for the Arts and Sciences
39 Gowen Hall, Box 353530
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195-3530

206-543-2399
206-685-2146 (fax)
aseem@uw.edu
http://faculty.washington.edu/aseem/

_______________________________________________________________________

To send a message to the list, send your email to SIM@aomlists.pace.edu

_______________________________________________________________________

Visit the SIM Division website at: http://sim.aomonline.org
_______________________________________________________________________

If you wish to unsubscribe from this list or change your delivery
options, you can do so online at: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=sim&A=1

Cambridge University Press Series on Business and Pubic Policy
is pleased to announce the publication of:


PUBLIC FORCES AND PRIVATE POLITICS IN AMERICAN BIG BUSINESS

by

Professor Timothy Werner
McCombs School of Business
University of Texas, Austin

Book Description:

What are the political motivations behind firms' decisions to adopt policies that self-regulate their behavior in a manner that is beyond compliance with state, federal and local law? Public Forces and Private Politics in American Big Business advances a new understanding of the firm as a political actor that expands beyond the limited conceptualizations offered by economists and organization theorists. Timothy Werner develops a general theory of private politics that is tested using three case studies: the environment, gay rights and executive compensation. Using the conclusions of these case studies and an analysis of interviews with executives at 'Fortune 500' firms, Werner finds that politics can contribute significantly to our understanding of corporate decision-making on private policies and corporate social responsibility in the United States.


Advance praise:

'How is it that big business in the US has become both more powerful over government and more vulnerable to activist pressure? In addressing this puzzle, Timothy Werner has pulled off a major feat: he has woven together an analysis of 'private politics', public policy agendas, and the theory of the firm that is accessible, nuanced, and wide-ranging in its implications.'

--- Tim Bartley, Indiana University


'Had Winston Churchill been an economist, he might have said, 'Capitalism is the worst form of economic organization, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time'. In [this book] Tim Werner goes beyond the 'which?' when it comes to government or market, and directs the reader towards 'how?' … Werner argues that business groups are partly strategic, but business political action is also partly just defense. Interestingly, it turns out that business has today has more leverage over the formal state, but is less powerful in the larger civil society … Werner slays a few sacred cows, on both the left and the right. This is the sort of book America needs if we are going to redirect politics away from partisan bickering and toward solutions.'

--- Michael C. Munger, Director of the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program, Duke University


For additional information:
http://www.cambridge.org/si/knowledge/isbn/item6796473/Public%20Forces%20and%20Private%20Politics%20in%20American%20Big%20Business/?site_locale=sl_SI



**********************************************************************

Aseem Prakash
General Editor, Cambridge University Press Series on Business and Public Policy
Professor, Department of Political Science
Walker Family Professor for the College of Arts and Sciences
39 Gowen Hall, Box 353530
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195-3530

aseem@uw.edu
http://faculty.washington.edu/aseem/


_______________________________________________________________________

To send a message to the list, send your email to SIM@aomlists.pace.edu

_______________________________________________________________________

Visit the SIM Division website at: http://sim.aomonline.org
_______________________________________________________________________

If you wish to unsubscribe from this list or change your delivery
options, you can do so online at: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=sim&A=1