Does the research problem derive from theory, prior research, ormethodological considerations? Explain the rationale for yourresponse and what part of the narrative you used to arrive at theanswer.
The relationship between government agencies and nonprofitorganizations is the focus of
increasing attention within the public administration community.Practitioners recognize that the
organization of public services relies to a substantial degree uponwhat we have come to call
third-party government (Salamon, 1981). Nongovernmental actorsnot only deliver govern-
ment-funded services but also actively participate throughout thepolicy process. Often the
third-party is a nonprofit organization. In the last decade orso, researchers from a variety of
disciplines have examined this evolutionary development moreclosely (Kramer, 1981; Salamon
and Abramson, 1982; Salamon, 1987; Gronbjerg, 1987; Ostrander,Langton, and Van Til,
1987; Lipsky and Smith, 1989-90; Wolch, 1990; Provan and Milward,1990). A 1989 National
Academy of Public
Administration report, Privatization: The Challenge to PublicManagement, urged that
public administrators and policymakers in general acknowledge thesignificant management
challenges posed by government programs that involve such "tools ofgovernment action" as
contracting out, loan guarantees, government sponsored enterprises,and vouchers (Salamon,
1989b).
Within this context of extensive sharing of responsibility betweengovernmental and
nongovernmental actors for operating public programs, thegovernment/nonprofit relationship is
widely acknowledged as a critical element. The shrinking capacityof public organizations,
increasing demand for services, and continuing trend towarddecentralized program delivery
underscore its importance. At the same time, an understanding ofthe precise character of the
state/voluntary sector relationship and the degree ofinterdependence between public agencies
and nonprofit organizations requires additional empiricalinvestigation.
Research findings reported here describe that relationship in termsof the dependence of
public agencies and nonprofit organizations on each other forresources and their resulting
interdependence.
The framework laid out in this study emerged from a synthesis ofthree sources: (1) the
perspectives of organization theory, especially power/dependenceand resource dependence,
and bureaucratic politics; (2) a series of exploratory modelrefinement interviews with four
public-sector and five nonprofit- sector participants in an earlierpolicy study (Dawes and
Saidel, 1988); and (3) a field pretest in June-July 1989, with20 state agency and 20 nonprofit
administrators from four service areas.
Emerson's (1962) theory of reciprocal power-dependence relationsprovided the
building blocks for the framework used in this research. Hereasoned that the power of A
over B is equal to, and based upon, the dependence of B upon A.Recognizing the
reciprocity of social relations, we can represent apower-dependence relation as a pair of
equations:
Pab = Dba
Pba = Dab (Emerson, 1962, p. 33).
For the purposes of this study, if a becomes s for state agenciesand b becomes n for
nonprofit organizations, the equations can be read asfollows:
The power of state agencies over nonprofit organizations equals thedependence of
nonprofit organizations on state agencies for resources (Psn
= Dns).
The power of nonprofit organizations over state agencies equals thedependence of
state agencies on nonprofit organizations for resources (Pns =Dsn).
The use of Dsn and Dns yields two measures of resource dependencethat, taken
together, delineate a current picture of resource interdependencebetween state and
nonprofit organizations.
