New Public Governance, the Third Sector, and Co-Production

2  Co-Production and Third SectorSocial Services in Europe

Some Crucial Conceptual Issues

Victor Pestoff

Today, many European governments are searching for new ways to involve their citizens in the provision and governance of publicly financed social services. At a general level, the reasons are similar throughout Europe. First is the challenge of an aging population; second is the growing democracy deficit at all levels, local, regional, national and European; and third is the semipermanent austerity in public finances, made more acute by the recent global economic crisis. The response to these three challenges will, of course, vary between countries and across sectors of service provision, but some general trends are nevertheless observable. ...