Dialog eller styrning? Om relationen mellan staten och de idéburna organsationerna, med särskilt fokus på Överenskommelsen och Svenska kyrkan.

Dialogue or governance? The relationship between the state and the voluntary organizations, with particular focus on Överenskommelsen (the compact) and the Church of Sweden Government-voluntary sector compacts have emerged in the recent years, as a nonprofit policy practice in many industrialized countries. The compact – in Sweden signed by the government in 2008 – is by some researchers regarded as a shift in welfare policy, honouring the older voluntary membership-based organizations, but at the same time promoting a new role as a professionalized market-based service provider. The chapter is focused on the relations between the state and voluntary organizations working with social issues, especially the Church of Sweden. It raises the question whether the compact is a platform for dialogue or a means for the government to “inspect” voluntary organizations. In the case of the Church of Sweden, the state is the dominant audit actor, bigger than the church itself. Although the state does not interfere in the religious work of the church, it does influence many of the organizational aspects (the same as for any public organization in Sweden today), e.g. gender issues and working environment. If the church were to expand its role as welfare provider, the audit would become even more intrusive. The compact is one way amongst others in which the state opens up for a “dialogue” with Third sector organizations while honouring their specific character as voluntary organizations. However, many other state directives aim for standardization of organizational characters, as performance measurement and management