A Core Issue: The Inseparable Relationship between Nonprofits and Public Policy

Abstract

Graduates of nonprofit management and public administration programs face a workplace increasingly dominated by complex relationships between government, nonprofit, and for-profit entities. Nonprofit organizations and public policy cannot be understood independently of one another. To assess the role of nonprofits in the policy curriculum, we reviewed 12 public policy textbooks and 143 syllabi from graduate-level public policy courses taught at Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration-accredited programs to assess the extent to which nonprofits are incorporated. Nonprofit organizations deserve full integration into the core curriculum of Master of Public Administration (MPA) and Master of Public Policy (MPP) programs as essential actors in public administration and the policy process. Their ubiquity as policy partners, from problem recognition and advocacy to policy formation, implementation, and evaluation makes understanding nonprofit organizations crucial to the study and practice of public policy and administration.

• Nonprofits
• intersectoral collaboration
• core curriculum
• blurred lines

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Shannon K. Vaughan

Shannon K. Vaughan is assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Western Kentucky University, where she teaches primarily in the MPA program. Her research interests include the impact of nonprofits on public policy, nonprofit funding issues, and ethics. Among her published work are articles in Public Integrity, Review of Policy Research, and the Journal of Health and Human Services Administration. She and Shelly Arsneault are the authors of Managing Nonprofit Organizations in a Policy World, published by CQ Press.

Shelly Arsneault

Shelly Arsneault is professor in the Division of Politics, Administration, and Justice at California State University, Fullerton, and recently served as the coordinator/advisor for the MPA program. Her research focuses primarily on social welfare policies in the arenas of education, poverty, welfare, and health policy. Among her published work are articles in State and Local Government Review, The American Review of Public Administration, The Social Policy Journal, and Review of Policy Research.