The Third Sector Governance: Roles, Functions, Governance Patterns

The concept of the Third Sector was first proposed by Levitte, which refers to the organization except government and private sector. In this thesis we introduce the origin and development of this concept. The growth of the third sector has profound impacts on the economy, politics and society in both developed and developing countries, especially in the former. It plays a role complementary to the government and enterprises under the three-part framework consisting of the government, market, society. It can meet the needs of the society via means of multi-participations, openness, equality, competition, volunteer, and independence.In this thesis, we also discuss the history and the present status of the Third Sector, as well as its characteristics different from that of the developed countries. The Third Sector in our nation is separated from the government during its function transfer. This is different from the general background of the limited government and mature market in western countries. Many problems arise as a result of the following factors including the special attributes of the Third Sector in our country, the incomplete system of laws, the weak sense of participation, and the weakness of the Third Sector itself. These problems include the legality, the self-assessment, the standardization, the division of powers with the government, and the lack of institutionalization. These problems may result in different roles and functions of the Third Sector in reality from those in theories. In this thesis, we illustrate the presence of the above problems in reality and point out the reason of these problems making use of the case of the Protection Foundation of the Chinese Consumers.In addition, we describe systematically the importance and necessity of the Third Sector in participating in the governance. With several theories, such as the pluralism, collaborationism, the theory of civil society, the theory of governance, and the new public service scenario, we deduce the above importance and necessity, and point out that there are several advantages of the Third Sector participating in the governance. Therefore, the development and governance participation of the Third Sector is not only theoretically viable but also necessary in practice.At last, we construct a balanced governance model using the theory of the cooperative game, and describe how different parts should behave to participate in the governance and improve the society effectively. In the process of governance, it is critical that the Third Sector in our country should learn how to take care of its relation to the government and the market and how to cooperate with each other. We point out that the government should treat appropriately and support strongly the Third Sector. In order to achieve the maximum public benefits, the government, the market, and the Third Sector should depend on and develop with one another.