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Charitable Foundations

  • Foundations are private institutions for public benefit. With a long history that reaches back to antiquity, inside the United States and globally, foundations are a growing organizational form that policy makers increasingly view with both potential (as a source of private funds to complement government services) and caution (given their autonomy and low level of accountability). Alongside the rise in commerce and finance, foundations experienced an initial growth period in the late Middle Ages and a second in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, following the Industrial Revolution. Political stability, an increase in demand for social, educational, and cultural services of all kinds, and economic prosperity are certainly significant factors behind this growth. Since the dawn of the 21st century, foundations have remained the primary legal structure through which newly minted and emerging wealthy individuals practice their philanthropy. The foundation form, or some similar iteration, is growing not just in many Western democratic countries but even in communist and other political regimes such as China and Russia. The reason for this growth is the way in which foundations have been envisioned as instruments of welfare state reform in the broadest sense. This growth implies a more important role for foundations as providers of relief to those most in need, protectors of traditional institutions and the status quo, and, to a lesser extent, as change agents. In particular, this is apparent among the “new philanthropists” of the 21st century, drawn from technology entrepreneurs, who are more actively engaged in public policy.

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Metadaten
Document Type:Part of a Book
Language:English
Author(s):Marcus Lam, Helmut K. Anheier
Parent Title (English):Encyclopedia of Social Work
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Publication year:2021
Publishing Institution:Hertie School
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199975839.013.46
ISBN:9780199975839
Release Date:2021/10/11
Tag:charity; nonprofit sector; philanthropy
AY 21/22:AY 21/22
Licence of document (German):Metadaten / metadata
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