Does Government funding suppress non-profits’ political activity?
Autonomy from the state has been considered a core feature of civil society, and understanding the consequences of perceived threats to that autonomy has been a central theme in social and political theory.
This article examines a specific question: What is the effect of government funding on non-profit organisations' political activity?
Research identifies some mechanisms by which government funding might reduce non-profit political activity and others that might enhance such activity. By investigating this relationship with two data sets (a national sample of religious congregations and a longitudinal sample of non-profit organisations in Minneapolis–St. Paul), the researchers find some consistent and compelling results: the relationship between government funding and non-profit political
activity is either positive or nil; government funding does not suppress non-profit political activity.
Published by the American Sociological Association in the American
Sociological Review, Volume 69, Number 2, 1 April 2004, pp. 292-316
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/asoca/asr/2004/00000069/00000002/art00007