Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / A sizeable body of research has attempted to examine the interaction between government spending and private giving known as the crowd-out effect. Most researchers reported that increases of government spending cause decreases of philanthropic giving to different types of nonprofits. However, few studies have attempted to indicate the interaction between government welfare expenditures and private giving to human service organizations even though human service organizations are the most sensitive to the changes of government spending. Additionally, the estimated crowd-out effects with a simple crowd-out model have been criticized for potential endogeneity bias. This paper investigates the total effect of federal government welfare spending on state government expenditures and philanthropic giving to human service organizations (known as joint crowd-out). I used the 2005 wave of the Center on Philanthropy Panel Study (COPPS) to estimate the effect of federal human service grants on state government spending on, and donations to human services. From these reduced-form estimates I infer the levels of simple and joint crowd-out. I found that indicate federal spending on public welfare crowds out private giving to human service organizations while holding control variables constant in the donations equation. However, federal government spending on public welfare crowds in state government spending on public welfare.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / During the early Cold War, 1949 through 1963, the federal government, through such agencies as the Federal Civil Defense Administration (FCDA) (1950-1957), the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization (OCDM) (1958-1960), and the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) (1961-1963), regarded children and young adults as essential to American civil defense. Youth-oriented, voluntary organizations, including the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) and the Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA), assisted the federal civil defense programs by promoting civil defense messages and agendas. In this thesis, I will explore how the GSUSA and BSA translated federal civil defense policies for their Scouts. What were the civil defense messages transmitted to Scouts during the early Cold War? How were those messages disseminated? Why? What was the social impact of BSA and GSUSA involvement with civil defense on America’s evolving national ideals?

The rise of civil society organisations in South Africa is crucial to development as it contributes to the bridging of the communication gap between civil society and local government organisations and municipalities and promotes access to resources. The contribution of civil society organisations to development has been widely acknowledged as they are involved in service delivery, advocacy, innovation and poverty reduction initiatives. In spite of the development work done by civil society organisations in developing countries, they still face challenges in promoting development as poverty, inequality and unemployment persist. This research focused on the social capital approach as a strategy for the development of local communities in South Africa. The social capital approach involves increasing social stability and enhancement of development issues. Social capital relies on the basic idea that “it is not what you know but who you know”. Social capital refers mostly to social cohesion, which makes a community more committed to better living conditions for all. People in communities have the capacity to improve the quality of their lives with the support of all sectors, civil society, the state and the market by letting the people in communities get involved in all the stages of the programmes because they know better from living in those communities. Civil society organisations can meaningfully add value to economic and social development in any third world country through their work. The government, the market and civil society can complement each other and add value to the development of the country. This study employed a qualitative research design. It used in-depth interviews, direct observation and focus-group interviews to collect data, which was later transcribed and analysed thematically. The main focus of this study was to critically evaluate the roles and strategies of civil society organisations in the development of South African communities, using Planact as a case study. The specific objectives were to: 1) To explore the role Planact plays in development in Johannesburg; 2) To evaluate how Planact uses social capital as a strategy in promoting development if at all; 3) To explore the challenges of civil society organisations, particularly that of Planact in the development process of poor communities and 4) To make possible recommendations in the light of the roles and strategies of civil societies identified in analysing Planact ‘s strategy in development process for the poor. This study found that as a civil society organisation Planact is acting as a voice for the voiceless through its advocacy programme. It contributes to policy making, good governance and accountability. In addition, Planact promotes participation and assists in education and training. Planact uses different strategies to promote development in the community, such as mentoring, promoting integrated human settlement, using technology in networking, encouraging participation, community economic development and social organisation. Furthermore, the organisation uses forums, awareness campaigns and empowerment as strategies to promote development in the community. However, the study found that the organisation faces challenges because of limited funding. The community also encounters certain challenges as they engage with the organisation, for example, lack of accountability, unresponsiveness and inaccessibility. It was noted that civil society organisations should adopt a higher priority in development planning and practice and should allow the participation of poor people in the development process. / Development Studies / M.A. (S.S.)