Emerging roles of nonprofit organizations: an introduction.

Nonprofit organizations and voluntary associations have a long and varied history in American society. Their leadership roles in service delivery, policy advocacy, and social movements have been well documented both by scholars and insightful popular observers. We would argue, however, that an increasingly important role of nonprofit organizations demands greater scrutiny. We refer to the way in which nonprofit organizations and voluntary associations initiate, shape and respond to changes in their political environment. In particular, we are interested in the process by which these organizations attempt to sculpt the landscape of urban policy and political action. We need to know when and where such efforts are effective, and when they are not. We are curious about the potential of such activities, as well as limitations. The seven articles in this symposium all explore these and related questions. Variation in theme and focus across the papers reflects the variation and complexity within the nonprofit sector itself. (1) Nevertheless, each paper successfully maintains a focus on what we see as an emerging political or policy role of nonprofit organizations and voluntary associations.

The symposium begins with Smith's review of changing roles played by nonprofit organizations in American cities. In particular, his discussion links examples developed in other symposia papers to the broad issue of sector change and evolution. The Ferman and Kaylor article highlights how nonprofit organizations and voluntary associations build social capital in neighborhoods, largely …