2017 Volume 17 Issue 1 Pages 23-37
This paper examines the relationship between public funding and advocacy by civil society organizations. Previous studies have discussed the consequences of dependence on public funding and its impact on advocacy. Using resource-dependence theory, some studies argue that public funding has a negative impact on advocacy. However, others find a positive impact, drawing on partnership theory. There is no strong empirical finding that supports either theory. Therefore, the debate has not yet been settled. This study provides two new perspectives on the argument. First, the level of the independence of the government from civil society determines the consequence, because it determines the reaction of governments to advocacy. If independence is high, governments can take sanctions against advocacy, so the resource-dependence theory is valid. If the level is low, governments cannot take sanctions and are willing to compromise with civil society organizations; therefore the partnership theory is valid. Second, public funding has a nonlinear impact on advocacy. Previous research focused only on its linear impact and whether this was a positive or negative impact. However, this research shows that the effect of public funding is nonlinear and fits an inverted U-shaped model. Findings from the multivariate analyses of the Japanese Third Sector Survey 2014 support these two perspectives.
