Developments in the Third Sector: The Last Decade and a Cautious View into the Future

Abstract

The chapter discusses major challenges for the third sector and its associations and assesses them on the basis of literature and a quasi-Delphi research with 37 experts. Five trends are identified as the most important: increasing managerialism as a way to gain legitimacy, changes in the relationship with the public sector due to financial crises and neoliberal ideology, blurring boundaries between the sectors, new demands on associations, and new forms of civic engagement.