Poland: A New Model of Government-Nonprofit Relations for the East?

This article explores the growth of the socio-economic strength of the nonprofit sector in Poland over the past 25 years of post-communist transition and this sector's increasingly strong relations with government in the fields of human service delivery and social policy formulation. Among the factors contributing to the expanding role of the country's nonprofit sector examined in the article are the early post-communist welfare gap, the impact of Poland's accession to the EU, the new legal framework for nonprofits established during this period, the significant decentralization of governmental authority, and the resulting expansion of governmental support now reaching a level close to that in many Western European countries. At the same time, the article identifies the remaining vulnerabilities that continue to plague Polish nonprofit organizations as a consequence of its reliance on short-term contracts, limited access to public procurement procedures, and a general pull-back of the state from the provision of human services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]