Despite a long-running debate about the existence and nature of the nonprofit sector, scholars rarely make clear how organizations constitute the sector, nor do they describe how this sector evolves. Scholars have typically focused on one of two conceptions about the sector -- either as a unitary sector or as individual sub-areas of a nonprofit sector. The following questions emerge: is there a nonprofit sector as has been asserted by some scholars? If there is a nonprofit sector, how does the nonprofit sector evolve? What is problematic about this inquiry is that there exist various distinctive types of nonprofit organizations that cannot easily be integrated into a notion of a unitary nonprofit sector. On the other hand, they cannot be treated as being completely different from others. So, how can this diversity of nonprofit organizations be understood? And how can the organizational dynamics of nonprofit organizations be explained? Does a "broad," unitary nonprofit sector have its own dynamics of organizational change regardless of sub-components within the sector? Or do sub-population nonprofit organizations have their unique dynamics regardless of the existence of a "broad" nonprofit sector? If so, are there distinguishable effects of a "broad" nonprofit sector on the evolution of sub-populations of nonprofits? These questions are not only related to nonprofit studies, but also to the main questions of the population ecology perspective. Cooperative and competitive interrelationships are central to organization theory. Organizational ecology, and density-dependence theory in particular, investigates how large-scale mutualistic and competitive processes affect the entry, or birth, -of new organizations, and thus large-scale organizational evolution. To date, existing ecological research has focused on populations of organizations that are relatively homogeneous with respect to their organizational form – often defined through salient product markets. However, some organizational forms are complex, thus resulting in heterogeneous populations, as illustrated by the nonprofit sector. The nonprofit sector holds a common cognitive base that has been accepted by the public but operates in diverse arenas with different strategies and organizational forms. From a theoretical perspective that uses population ecology and density dependence theory, the present study investigates what implications such heterogeneity has on the mutualistic and competitive relationships within a population, and how this affects the predictions of nonprofit organization entry. The identity approach to organizational forms is used as a basis for conceptualizing complex forms as systems of hierarchically nested sub-forms. Furthermore, the issue of hierarchical form complexity is extended by combining the differences of geographical location that have been studied by ecologists. Hypotheses are derived regarding density-dependent entry in heterogeneous populations characterized by complex organizational forms. The hypotheses are tested with comprehensive data on nonprofit organizations in Florida counties from 1994 to 2007, including ten sub-forms and eight geographical boundaries of sub-forms. This study anticipates that the systemic hierarchical structures in terms of both form and location of populations have impacts on the entry of sub-forms. The key findings of the study can be summarized as follows. First, the systemic structure of the underlying complex form has clear implications for the operation of the processes of density-dependent legitimation and competition. The different units and levels have clear communal interdependencies and exert mutualistic and competitive forces on one another. Second, legitimation tends to operate on a broader scale than competition. Within the simple systemic structure with the sub-populations nested directly under the main population, virtually all ecological competition is contained at the sub-population level. However, the main population has a much stronger legitimizing effect on sub-population entry than the individual sub-populations themselves. Third, the regional density variables show no effects in most models, unlike a number of earlier studies based on the empirical tests of industrial organizations in the geographical context. This may be interpreted as meaning that nonprofit organizations are strongly rooted in the local community. The present study contributes to organization theory by shedding additional light on the mechanisms creating organizational diversity, how such diversity is structured, and what implications such diversity has on the large-scale mutualistic and competitive interdependencies between organizations. Density dependence theory is extended by proposing how legitimation and competition operate in settings with complex organizational forms and underlying multilevel systems of forms. For a nonprofit sector study, most importantly, this study provides a significant clue about understanding the existence and nature of the nonprofit sector. Unlike the dominating two conceptions about the sector -- either as a unitary sector or as individual sub-areas of the nonprofit sector without considering other nonprofit dimensions, this study shows that a nonprofit sector is in fact a heterogeneous population with significant constituent nonprofit sub-populations. This study also has implications for nonprofit managerial practice. For potential entrepreneurs' decisions to create organizations, it is possible to infer which kinds of external settings are most favorable for entrepreneurial activity, and where the entry of new nonprofit organizations is at its toughest. For nonprofit managers, it may be advantageous for individual organizations to follow and even replicate existing organizational forms that have attained considerable amounts of legitimation. The study also has important implications for nonprofit managers who seek to expand service boundaries of a nonprofit organization. / A Dissertation submitted to the Askew School of Public Administration and Policy in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Summer Semester 2010. / Date of Defense: June 17, 2010. / Nonprofit Organizations, Organizational Theory, Population Ecology, Density Dependence Theory / Includes bibliographical references. / Ralph S. Brower, Professor Directing Dissertation; John Mayo, University Representative; W. Earle Klay, Committee Member; Kaifeng Yang, Committee Member.

How is the media agenda of Chinese television set by the three institutional powers, the state, market and civil society? How do formal and informal institutions of the state, market and civil society in contemporary China set the media agenda with specific rules and organizations? And what are the power relations among the three institutions that shape the structure and functionaries of mass media in general? Based on a new theoretical framework of media agenda-setting for the analysis of media politics in contemporary China, these questions are explored in three sections. First, policies and regulations had been established by formal and informal institutions of the state to safeguard the state agenda as the primary media agenda. The second, market set audience rating and commercial income as major rules for Chinese television to survive in a competitive economy. The third, emerging civil society set moral standards for television broadcasters to produce programs to check the failure of the state and market on one hand, and to serve the needs and rights of audience as-citizens on the other. The constant changing power relations between the state and market, or between the state and civil society are also explored in sections that market and civil society interact respectively with the state to set the media agenda. The first finding of this thesis relates to the nature of contemporary Chinese television. As one servant for three masters, Chinese television is a mixed entity, which can be motivated to be a state agent, a market entity, and sometimes, a civil society player as well. In long term, Chinese television can be expected to be differentiated and reorganized as affiliates to the three institutions respectively along with the gradual establishment of a checks-and-balances system within and between the state, market, and civil society. The second finding concerns power relations among the three institutions. While both market and civil society emerged to be more and more dynamic in motivating the media to accommodate new social agendas, the state remains as the primary power in setting the media agenda of Chinese television.

The Cable Television Channel Planning and Management Regulations, which was promulgated on December 13 in 2004, indicate clearly that each cable station¡¦s third channel is ¡§the public channel¡¨ to practice community people¡¦s ¡§media access rights¡¨. Its major purposes are to protect the freedom of speech, to ensure citizens having channels to express their opinions, and to facilitate the diverse social developments. Theoretically, public access channel should be viewed as the public sphere. Practically, due to the characteristics of local cable television, it is expected to preserve local culture, to educate the local people the functions of regional media, and to contribute to community development. Especially in today Taiwan¡¦s media environment, most media are controlled by the political and business forces and vested interest organizations, the local voice could not be heard in the mainstream media. This survey chose the public accessible channel 3 of the local cable stations in Tainan County (thereinafter referred as Tainan County Third Public Television Service) as study objects. There were three purposes of this study¡Xfirst of all, to understand the current situation of public access channels operated by local cable television stations and how public access channels apply to public affairs; second, to propose the appropriate operational modes for cable television stations by evaluating the difficulties and problems of practicing public affairs; and third, to discuss how public policy could be extend and constructed to create community interaction and hence a citizen society by exploring the interaction between local government and media and analyzing the best operational mode of public access channel. The results of this study indicated that due to the mutual interest structure of politics and businesses, the local government does not fulfill the role of administrator. The responsibility of media to promote civic society was abandoned or fulfilled just merely nominal by the local cable television owners. The channel for public participation is turned back to the communities. Based on the findings of this study, there are two suggestions for policy revision: first, amending the Cable Radio and Television Law and enacting the clauses of rewards and punishments for channel management to ensure the participation of public affairs; second, the public access channels of cable television stations should serve as a platform for video production for the public. This study mainly explored the possibility of using the public access channels of cable television to practice public affairs. Due to the scopes and limits of research design, the case examined was limited to the case of Tainan County. Advance studies could be focused on the performance of the provision of programs (i.e. programs in social community education, etc.) to contribute to the public sphere and civic society.

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The objective of this study is to examine the effect of existing nursing home services on the elderly. In addition, it will also examine the effectiveness of the Alternative Health Service Project, The servlces provided under the project include: Alternative Living Services (adult foster care, boarding care, congregate living); Home Delivered Services (home health services and personal care assistance) ; and Adult Day Rehabilitation (ambulatory health care and health related supportive services in a day center. AHS clients reside. in two of Georgia’s ten Department of Human Resources aistricts, .Oistrict III (Atlanta), DIstrict X (Athens), are 50 years old or older, and either reside in a nursing home or have been certified. for nursing home care prior to receiving prolect services. All potential clients receive a health and. social needs assessment:. Of those persons who are felt to he appropriate for alternative services, 75 percent are referred Coservice group, the remainder are assigned to a control group and are not offered AHS services. The existence of the control group allows AHS to comnare the effectiveness of project services with nursing home care and other services available in the community, Since the population of the elderly in this community is increasing yearly, the availability of various services to address their needs is imperative. Until recently, the nursing homes are the only care centers available to the elderly. The various documented abuses by these nursing homes demand that alternatives should be found, The Alternative Health Service is one that is being presently explored. The main sources of information were Georgia Department of Medical Assistance Annual Reports and interviews with clients. In addition, the writer used other publications such as books, periodicals and journals.

The main purpose of this degree paper is to assess the impact of Reaganomics on the National Conference of Black Mayors (NCBM). In the context of this effort, the follow ing categories of NCBM programs and activities will be analyzed: educational and research; economic development;community development; municipal management; program coordination; and legislative and policy advocacy. By use of the case study approach, the writer conducts a detailed assessment of the impact of Reaganomics on a minority organization which to a large extent relies on Federal funding. The dismantling of certain programs and departments, coupled with a reduction in spending, tax cuts and the shifting of both the tax burden and public services from Washington to state and local government is seen by the NCBM as an attempt to reduce the gains made by minorities since the Reconstruction. The NCBN, like many other non-profit organizations endeavors to find alternative sources of funding to enable it to continue to operate and eventually become self—sustaining. The writer views various measures which are being pursued to ameliorate the negative impact of Reaganomics. The main source of information for this descriptive study was obtained as a result of the writer’s participative observation while assigned to the NCBM as an intern. Primary information was elicited from NCBM staff members as well as black mayors. A wider variety of information was derived from secondary sources such as textbooks, magazines, newsletters and NCBM file data. .

The primary intent of this degree paper is to discuss the current problems confronting Title II of the Social Security Act. An attempt has also been made to highlight the four major problems, namely the short and long-term financing problems, the negative effects on savings, the benefit increase dilemma, and the mandatory nature of the program, as well as presenting divergent viewpoints of many authorities on these problems. The social security program is very important to mil lions of elderly and disabled Americans. Without it, the economic hardships for these groups of people would be unbearable. The data for this study were obtained from books, periodicals, newspapers and unpublished materials.

The intent of this paper is to identify and recommend solutions to the inconsistency between zoning decisions made by the Atlanta City Council and the land use/zoning elements of the Comprehensive Development Plan. The first section consists of the introduction, which contains the definition of what is meant by zoning. The second section contains the agency's background information. Section three lays out the analytical approach and tools to be used. The last two sections give the analysis of the problem underlying the failure of the City Council to uphold the guidelines and policies of the Comprehensive Development Plan and the recommendations to resolve it. The main sources of informaton were interviews, per sonal observations and findings, numerical analysis and indepth examination of six selected cases.