Business Commons^™

A Third Sector Imaginary, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

A basic theoretical challenge for third sector scholars today is to speak in general and consistent terms about the institutional and normative orders forming outside households, markets and governments in numerous countries, regions and urban centers everywhere. The third sectors of the world have formed in light of a range of distinctive local conditions, including history, culture, law and other factors. A growing international group of scholars has produced a convincing, although limited and partial model of the third sector based in the linked concepts of nonprofit organization, nonprofit sector and non-distribution constraints. We will need to pay greater heed …

Associations, Movements, Dialogues, Social Problems And News: Voluntary Action And The Life Cycles Of The Third Sector, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

This is one of two summation papers presented at the conclusion of the 2012 Queensland University conference on the third sector, looking to the future. The focus initially is on the concept of the social imaginary as offered by the Canadian social philosopher, Charles Taylor. Much of the previous conceptual and theoretical work in third sector studies during the past few decades has been focused on questions of the best ways to imagine the community and national social configurations of increasingly large numbers of nonprofit, voluntary and nongovernmental organizations. The concepts of nonprofit organization and nonprofit sector have been most …

The Growth Of Nonprofit Accounting And It's Impact On Human Services, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Changes in nonprofit accounting standards and practices have spearheaded a quiet revolution in financial management practice in social agencies and the delivery of human services during the past three decades. These changes have gone hand-in-glove with other changes in the political arena to dramatically transform the ways in which human services are organized and delivered. At the core of this transition has been the movement from fund to enterprise accounting, together with such larger political developments as the expansion of grant-based relations with government into the performance management environment of purchase of service contracting.

Social Entrepreneurship In The Practice Of Deliberation And Dialogue, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Advocates of public deliberation and sustained dialogue, like other change agents, often embrace roles as social entrepreneurs and engage in entrepreneurial efforts in promoting their cause. In particular, this may involve locating the resources necessary to establish and engage in programs of D & D, seeking to establish the costs and benefits of such programs, and furthering research into their effectiveness.

Deliberation And Dialogue In The Pracademic Commons, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

There is a strong connection between deliberation and dialogue and commons theory Deliberative activity generally takes place within group settings that approximate the defining conditions of a commons. In addition, social capital, in the form of trust and a sense of mutuality, and construction of a new or reconstituted normative outlook typically result from successful deliberation and dialogue efforts. This poses several lessons for the practice of the practice of such discussions.

The Practice Of The Commons, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

This paper

This paper lays out some of the basics of a language-based, person-centered, or agentic model of practice for nonprofit organizations, voluntary action and philanthropy within the emerging domain of commons theory. Six principles are identified for the practice of commons. Two threats to the production of common goods - bureaucratization and colonization of the life world - are discussed and evaluated as limitations of the practice of commons.

National Security, Suburbanization, Technology, And The Prospect Of Renewing Civic Participation, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

In a series of books and articles, Robert Putnam outlined his famous "bowling alone" theses of declining civic participation, which he attributed in considerable part to television and other alternative leisure time pursuits. Putnam also acknowledged the possibility of other possible factors. This presentation identifies two such possibilities that coincide with the decline Putnam noted, - national security and suburbanization - as well as more recent and more ambiguous, technology-related factors contributing to declines in civic participation.

Multiple Roles Of A Rural Administrator, Roger A. Lohmann, Nancy Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Basic administrative procedures are similar in rural and urban areas. Even so, rural human service administrators are often not prepared for the many roles they must assume in small and underfunded rural agencies. The roles may include personnel director, budget officer, accountant, fundraiser, supervisor, building and maintenance supervisor, volunteer coordinator, group developer, community organizer, public educator, policy analyst, and director of public relations and marketing.

Community Foundations In West Virginia, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

This report is part of an ongoing investigation of the support of neighborhood associations by community foundations in three states – Michigan, New Mexico and West Virginia. The findings are primarily negative: There is no evidence that the 22 community foundations of West Virginia have provided support for the development or continuation of neighborhood associations in the state.

The Future Of The Third Sector, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The U.S. "nonprofit sector" and other forms of contemporary national third sectors which are currently spreading around the world arose in a unique historical moment and for distinct historical reasons and are unlikely to outlast that moment in history. Voluntary action on the other hand has deep roots reaching far back in human history and is likely to be around far into the future.

Patronage Bibliography (1993), Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Patronage is one of the basic concepts in the commons theory of voluntary action; it refers to the giving or donating of resources – money, objects for collection, or repertories of knowledge, skills or ‘know-how’. Patrons – those who give – are one of the three fundamental roles in philanthropods, along with intermediaries or agents, and beneficiaries. Patronage is also a heavily studied subject, extensively written about in the humanities as the items in this bibliography attest.