A Typology for the Relationship Between Local Governments and NPOs in Welfare State Regimes: The Belgian case revisited

Abstract

We test a typology of public–private partnerships by using survey data on the relationship between non-profit organizations (NPOs) and Flemish local governments. We found that quite strong relations occur, but this is not a uniform picture: although most NPOs are not financially dependent on local government, there is a variation in NPO–local government contacts. We observe that NPOs active in poverty fighting, or in integration of ethnic minorities, build stronger relations, compared to NPOs in elderly care or youth care. Our analysis allows to refine the original typology by adding intermediate positions on the initial dichotomous scales of ‘dependence’ and ‘nearness’.