Skip to main content
Log in

Service Delivery and Civic Engagement: Disability Organizations in Northern Ireland

  • Published:
Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In the United Kingdom, the “New Labour” administration that came to power in 1997 has promoted two models of partnership between the state and the voluntary sector. The civic engagement model is based on the renewed interest among governments in the potential of voluntary organizations to contribute to the civic engagement of citizens. In the service delivery model, voluntary organizations are recruited to the task of delivering core social services. Drawing on data from disability-related voluntary organizations in Northern Ireland, this paper illustrates the impact of the service delivery partnership model on the development of voluntary action in the welfare field, and the relative paucity of resources allocated to participatory voluntary action and civic engagement. The consequent impact on the development of partnerships between the state and the voluntary sector is discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Abbott, M., and McDonagh, R. (1989). Changing women: Women's action in Northern Ireland. In E. Deane(ed.), Lost Horizons, New Horizons: Community Development in Northern Ireland Workers' Educational Association, Belfast.

    Google Scholar 

  • Acheson, N. (1989).Voluntary Action and the State in Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action, Belfast.

    Google Scholar 

  • Acheson, N. (1995). A partnership of dilemmas and contradictions: Unresolved issues in government-voluntary sector relations. In N. Acheson and A. Williamson(eds.), Voluntary Action and Social Policy in Northern Ireland, Ashgate Publishing, Aldershot.

    Google Scholar 

  • Acheson, N., and Williamson, A. (2001). The ambiguous role of welfare structures in relation to the emergence of activism among disabled people: Research evidence from Northern Ireland. Disability and Society, 16 (1), 87–102.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, J., Nank, R., and Stivers, C. (1999). Implications of welfare reform: Do nonprofit survival strategies threaten civil society? Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 28 (4), 432–451.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnes, M. (1997). Care, Communities and Citizens, Addison Wesley Longman, Harlow.

  • Birrell, W. D., and Williamson, A. (2000). The voluntary and community sector, political development and new forms of governance in Northern Ireland. Paper presented at Fourth Conference of the International Society for Third Sector Research, Trinity College, Dublin, July, 2000.

  • Blair, T. (1998). The Third Way: New Politics for the New Century, The Fabian Society, London.

  • Charlton, J. I. (1998). Nothing About Us Without Us: Disability, Oppression and Empowerment, University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chief Inspector of the Social Services in Northern Ireland (1999). Annual Report: Promoting Better Services, DHSS, Belfast.

  • Deakin, N. (1996). What does contracting do to users? In D. Billis and M. Harris (eds.), Voluntary Agencies: Challenges to Organisation and Management, Macmillan, Basingstoke and London.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Tocqueville, A. (1966). Democracy in America, Harper and Row, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • DHSS (Department of Health and Social Services) (1990). People First: Community Care in the 1990s. DHSS, Belfast.

  • DHSS (1997a). Health and Wellbeing: Into the Next Millennium. Regional Strategy for Health and Social Wellbeing 1997–2000, DHSS, Belfast.

  • DHSS (1997b). Well into 2000: A Positive Agenda for Health and Wellbeing, DHSS, Belfast.

  • DSD [Department for Social Development] (2001). Partners for Change, DSD, Belfast.

  • Ditch, J. (1988). Social Policy in Northern Ireland Between 1939–1950, Avebury, Aldershot.

  • Drake, R. F. (1994). The exclusion of disabled people from positions of power in British Voluntary Organizations. Disability and Society, 9 (4), 461–480.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drake, R. F. (1996). Charities, authority and disabled people:Aqualitative study. Disability and Society, 11 (1), 5–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Driedger, H. (1989). The Last Civil Rights Movement, Hurst and Co., London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finklestein, V. (1991). Disability: An administrative challenge? (The Health and Welfare Heritage). In M. Oliver (ed.), Social Work, Disabled People and Disabling Environments, Jessica Kingsley, London.

  • Finklestein, V. (1993). The commonality of disability. In J. Swain, V. Finklestein, S. French, and M. Oliver (eds.), Disabling Barriers-Enabling Environments, Sage, London and Newbury Park, California.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fraser, H. (1980). Community Work in a Divided Society, Farset Press, Belfast.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giddens, A. (1998). The Third Way: The Renewal of Social Democracy, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gidron, B., Kramer, R., and Salamon, L. (1992). Government and the third sector in comparative perspective. In B. Gidron, R. Kramer, and L. Salamon(eds.), Government and the Third Sector: Emerging Relations in Welfare States, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths, H., NicGioille Choille, T., and Robinson, J. (1978). Yesterday's Heritage, Tomorrow's Resource, New University of Ulster, Coleraine.

  • Hevey, D. (1992). The Creatures Time Forgot: Photography and Disability Imagery, Routledge, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Home Office (1990). Profiting from Partnership. Efficiency Scrutiny of Government Funding of the Voluntary Sector, HMSO, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kearney, J. (1995). The development of government policy and its strategy towards the voluntary and community sectors. In N. Acheson and A. Williamson (eds.), Voluntary Action and Social Policy in Northern Ireland, Avebury, Aldershot.

  • Kendall, J., and Knapp, M. (1996). The Voluntary Sector in the U.K., Manchester University Press, Manchester and New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knight, B. (1993). Voluntary Action, London, The Home Office.

  • Kramer, R. M. (1987). Voluntary agencies and the personal social services. InW.W. Powell (ed.), The Nonprofit Sector: A Research Handbook, Yale University Press, New Haven.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, J. (1996). What does contracting do to voluntary agencies? In D. Billis and M. Harris (eds), Voluntary Agencies: Challenges of Organisation and Management, Macmillan, Basingstoke and London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, J. (1999). Reviewing the relationship between the voluntary sector and the state in Britain in the 1990s. Voluntas, 10 (3), 255–270.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, J., and White, A. (1988). The Financial Circumstances of Disabled Adults, HMSO, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, J., White, A., and Meltzer, H. (1989). Disabled Adults: Services, Transport and Employment, HMSO, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • McShane, L., and O'Neill, M.(eds.) (1999). Community Development in Health and Social Services: The Craigavon Experience, Craigavon and Banbridge Health and Social ServicesTrust, Craigavon.

    Google Scholar 

  • NICVA [Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action] (1987). Reaching for the End of the Rainbow, NICVA, Belfast.

    Google Scholar 

  • NICVA (1998). The State of the Sector Two: Northern Ireland Voluntary Sector Almanac, NICVA, Belfast.

    Google Scholar 

  • NIO [Northern Ireland Office] (1993). Strategy for the Support of the Voluntary Sector and Community Development, NIO, Belfast.

    Google Scholar 

  • NIO [Northern Ireland Office] (1998). Building Real Partnership: The Compact between Government and the Voluntary and Community Sector in Northern Ireland, NIO, Belfast.

    Google Scholar 

  • O'Ferrall, F. (2000). Citizenship and Public Service: Voluntary and Statutory Relationships in Irish Healthcare, The Adelaide Hospital Society in association with Dundalgan Press, Dublin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oliver, M. (1990). The Politics of Disablement, Macmillan, Basingstoke.

    Google Scholar 

  • Priestley, M. (1999). Disability Politics and Community Care, Jessica Kingsley, London and Philadelphia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salamon, L. (1987). Partners in public service: The scope and theory of government nonprofit relations. In W. W. Powell(ed.), The Nonprofit Sector: A Research Handbook, Yale University Press, New Haven and London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salamon, L. M., and Anheier, H.K. (1994). The Emerging Sector: The Nonprofit Sector in Comparative Perspective-An Overview, The Johns Hopkins University Institute for Policy Studies, Baltimore.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, M. (1990). The Prevalence of Disability among Adults in Northern Ireland, Policy Planning and Research Unit, Belfast.

    Google Scholar 

  • Social Services Inspectorate (1998). Adding Value: The Contribution of Voluntary Organisations to Health and Social Welfare, DHSS, Belfast.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, M., Hoggett, P., and Langon, J. (1994). Independent organisations in community care. In S. Saxon-Harrold and J. Kendall(eds.), Researching the Voluntary Sector (2nd edn.), Charities Aid Foundation, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williamson, A. (1992). The voluntary sector's central role in managing societal instability in Northern Ireland. In B. Gidron, R. Kramer, and L. Salamon (eds.), Government and the Third Sector: Emerging Relationships in Welfare States, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, California.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, D. C. (1994). The voluntary sector in the 1990s and beyond. In S. Saxon-Harrold and J. Kendall (eds.), Researching the Voluntary Sector (2nd edn.), Charities Aid Foundation, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wistow, G., and Barnes, M. (1993). User involvement in community care: Origins, purposes and applications. Public Administration, 71(3), 279–299.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zarb, G., and Maher, L. (1997). The Financial Circumstances of Disabled People in Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Belfast.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Acheson, N. Service Delivery and Civic Engagement: Disability Organizations in Northern Ireland. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations 12, 279–293 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012395402144

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012395402144

Navigation