Nonprofit Organizations and Civil Society in the United States

"At last, a book on nonprofits for undergraduates that is not a management text. Nonprofit Organizations and Civil Society in the United States fills a longstanding gap in undergraduate nonprofit texts by exploring the big questions about the history and roles of nonprofits in our society. Through vivid, accessible examples and lively writing, this book guides students through the organizations, people, achievements, and controversies that make up the nonprofit sector in the U.S."

-Victoria Johnson, Ph.D., Organizational Studies, University of Michigan

"Most of today’s students of nonprofit management have one thing in common—they want to change the world. Finally there is a book that shows them how that can happen. LeRoux and Feeney have written a terrific text that is smart, sophisticated and scholarly. It goes beyond traditional treatments of the nonprofit sector shows how today’s nonprofits are dealing with a complex world. Nonprofit Organizations and Civil Society in the United States moves the conversation forward with an interesting and timely discussion of the major issues in the field. Especially exciting are the book’s discussions of the influence of technology on the nonprofit sector, the role of advocacy and social movements and the global context of the sector. While this is a great book for a variety of courses, it is also a volume that anyone interested in the way that civil society is evolving will want to have on their shelves."

-John G. McNutt, Ph.D., Public Policy and Administration, University of Delaware

"At last! A book treating nonprofit organizations as a subject worthy of serious academic study, and not just a manual of lame management advice, has been published. This book would be appropriate for both undergraduate and graduate courses. Instructors will find teaching from this book a joy because there is plenty of meat and controversy in every chapter."

-Robert S Rycroft, Ph.D., Economics, University of Mary Washington

"In this fascinating book, LeRoux and Feeney challenge readers to go beyond management and leadership issues and look at the larger picture of nonprofit and voluntary action. They thus offer a balanced and refreshing view of the many important roles and functions of nonprofits in the America society. Theoretically grounded and yet written in a way that is readily accessible to students, this is an ideal text for introductory courses on nonprofit organizations and civil society."

-Chao Guo, Ph.D., Nonprofit Management, Penn School of Social Policy & Practice, University of Pennsylvania

"Nonprofit Organizations and Civil Society in the United States offers a refreshing perspective on this important topic. The authors present a broad, interdisciplinary treatment that should interest undergraduate and graduate students and classes committed to understanding the place of nonprofits in U.S. society. The authors provide rich discussion of how nonprofit organizations in the United States are shaped by political, social, and economic forces — and how they shape them."

-Jeffrey L. Brudney, Ph.D., Cameron Family Distinguished Professor of Innovation in the Nonprofit Sector, University of North Carolina Wilmington

"Nonprofit Organizations and Civil Society in the United States is the only text I know that introduces students to the nonprofit sector by taking a political economy perspective. Other books emphasize management, organizational theory, or economics while this book places civil society and the political processes of pluralism at the center. While political economy is the focus, the authors nonetheless give a thorough introduction to legal and conceptual definitions of nonprofit organizations and to the quantitative dimensions of the sector. The text is very readable and one aspect that I found particularly attractive is the large number of interesting, appropriate, and creative cases the authors use to introduce their chapters and develop conceptual points. For some time there has been a desire among nonprofit organization researchers and public administration scholars to bring the two fields closer together by generating texts that provide bridges and historical perspectives to be used in courses in both fields. A product of this collaborative effort, LeRoux and Feeney do an outstanding job of achieving this bridging synthesis."

- Carl Milofsky, Ph.D., Sociology, Bucknell University, and Former Editor, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly

"Overall, Nonprofit Organizations and Civil Society in the United States succeeds as a broad, interdisciplinary introduction to nonprofits, exactly as the authors intended... The text poses many important questions, but is, and is meant to be, a versatile text that can be adapted to the needs of different approaches."

- Ruth Hansen, Indiana University, Indianapolis, USA, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly