Protest or Partnership? The Voluntary and Community Sectors in the Policy Process

Citation

Craig G, Taylor M & Parkes T (2004) Protest or Partnership? The Voluntary and Community Sectors in the Policy Process. Social Policy and Administration, 38 (3), pp. 221-239. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9515.2004.00387.x

Abstract
The growing emphasis on partnership is opening up new opportunities for voluntary and community organizations, many of which have felt themselves hitherto to be "outsiders" in the policy process. But it is also generating new dilemmas as they strive to maintain their autonomy while increasingly operating as insiders. This article examines the strategic choices that such organizations make in seeking to influence policy and the challenges that they face. It rejects the simple categorizations made between "insiders" and "outsiders" in the policy process, arguing that strategic choices are more complex and dynamic than this, with insider strategies dependent on outsider strategies and vice versa, and many organizations operating from both arenas.

Keywords
Policy process; Campaigning; Voluntary and community sector; Partnership

Journal
Social Policy and Administration: Volume 38, Issue 3