Managing Boundaries

The Role of Non-Profit Organisations in Russia's Managed Democracy

Bibliographic Data

ID2322784
AuthorsSergej Ljubownikow (0000-0002-7312-4050, The University of Sheffield, UK, corresponding author), Jo Crotty (0000-0003-1699-0486, Aberystwyth University)
Year2017
Volume51
Issue5
Pages940-956
Publication date2017-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0038-0385 • E-ISSN: 1469-8684
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0038038515608111
PMID28989196
OpenAlexW2274274190
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited48

This article examines Russian human service non-profit organisations (NPOs) to investigate the nature of civil society in a managed democracy. Specifically the focus is on emerging vertical ties between NPOs and ruling and governing elites. Drawing on qualitative data collected from health and education NPOs in three industrial regions, we find that in establishing such vertical ties the role of organisations and individuals within is changing - they have moved away from ignored outsiders towards accessing the circles of power and being tasked with managing the boundary between the state and civil society. In exploring these arrangements this article highlights that in the post-Soviet space, NPOs and the state are closely intertwined resembling co-optation. As a result the democratisation potential of human service NPOs is constrained. In discussing these insights we also draw parallels to contexts in which the state has outsourced welfare service to human service NPOs

Civil society · Democracy · Democratization · Economics · Parallels · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Sociology · State (computer science) · Welfare state · Law · Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering · Public Administration · Religion, Society, and Development · Social Policy and Reform Studies

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Open DOISci-HubOpen Access