Abstract

The perceived role of the state, the state’s responsibility to provide services for its citizens, and the governance of service provision are all undergoing major transformations (Ball, 2008; Chapman et al., 2010; Kendall, 2010; Daly, 2011). Within this context, policy initiatives that expect philanthropy to fill any voids left by the withdrawal of the state need to understand philanthropy and how it has historically related to the state. Yet, in the current development of ‘big society, small state’ policies being implemented around the globe, philanthropy is allocated a major role with little attention paid to, and understanding of, its underlying nature (Edwards, 2010; Sievers, 2010; Groves and Lowe-Petraske, 2011; Pharoah, 2012).