Philanthropy is everywhere. In 2013, in the United States alone, some $330 billion was recorded in giving, from large donations by the wealthy all the way down to informal giving circles. We tend to think of philanthropy as unequivocally good, but as the contributors to this book show, philanthropy is also an exercise of power. And like all forms of power, especially in a democratic society, it deserves scrutiny. Yet it rarely has been given serious attention. This book fills that gap, bringing together expert philosophers, sociologists, political scientists, historians, and legal scholars to ask fundamental and pressing questions about philanthropy’s role in democratic societies.
The contributors balance empirical and normative approaches, exploring both the roles philanthropy has actually played in societies and the roles it should play. They ask a multitude of questions: When is philanthropy good or bad for democracy? How does, and should, philanthropic power interact with expectations of equal citizenship and democratic political voice? What makes the exercise of philanthropic power legitimate? What forms of private activity in the public interest should democracy promote, and what forms should it resist? Examining these and many other topics, the contributors offer a vital assessment of philanthropy at a time when its power to affect public outcomes has never been greater.
Philanthropy is everywhere. In the US alone, philanthropic activity supports more than one million nonprofit organizations, accounting for approximately ten percent of the labor force. In 2013, total giving in the United States was estimated to be $330 billion, an amount larger than the size of the gross domestic product of many countries. But philanthropy is not just a beneficent activity or a funding mechanism. It can also be a form of power. In this volume featuring a range of scholars in political science, law, history, and sociology, the authors explore what kind of power—private or political—philanthropy is; how this power interacts with the economic power of market actors and the political power of states; whether the exercise of philanthropic power is justifiable and compatible with the fundamental values of a liberal democratic state; what kind of discretion powerful philanthropic actors should possess, what kind of philanthropic activity should be encouraged, merely permitted, strictly limited, or banned; and how the distribution of philanthropic power is affected and, in turn, affects the distribution of economic resources and political influence across society.
And when is philanthropy good or bad for democracy? Philanthropy plays a significant and growing role in democratic societies—in the provision of social services, cultural activity, basic research, policy advocacy, political engagement, religion, and, of course, in associational life. Here top-notch scholars probe the relationship between philanthropy and democracy from both an empirical or descriptive approach—what role has philanthropy actually played in particular democratic societies—and from a normative one—what role should philanthropy play.
