2016 Volume 13 Pages 28-41
This article examines the relationship between social normativeness and the
organizational forms of the third sector as documented in the third sector literature.
The third sector organization in the third sector literature is strongly associated
with normativeness because third sector organizations such as NPOs,
co-operatives, and social enterprises pursue normative goals, thus gaining the
sympathy of researchers. Moreover, researchers tend to assume that normativeness
in the third sector is non-market and non-state one and is consider to be
unidimensional like “solidarity.”
However, such assumptions are questionable considering the blurring boundaries
between the third sector and other sectors（ e.g., the market and state sectors）
and the increasing diversity within the third sector. Therefore, we must
re-examine the framework to analyze the relationship between the third sector
and social normativeness.
In this article, I recommend a new framework to analyze this relationship in a
more nuanced manner. I divide the relationship between normativeness and the
third sector’s organizational forms into three modes. In the first mode, I consider
researchers who assume that the organizational forms of the third sector represent
a single non-market, non-state normativeness, which I call “essentialism
of the third sector.” In the second mode, I consider researchers who assume
that the third sector is an “intermediary space of principles,” which primarily
include redistribution, market, and reciprocity. In the third mode, I consider researchers
who focus on an “institutional logic model,” which enables them to
decouple social normativeness and the organizational forms of the third sector.
Thus, I examine the potential and significance of the institutional logic model.
The institutional logic model contributes to sociology and social policy in the
age of welfare states reform.
