Third sector/Timelines

Timeline for Third Sector

A sequence of significant events in the evolution of the idea of a third sector.

1759: The first edition of Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments is published in Edinburgh, Scotland. 1767: Adam Ferguson's Essay on the History of Civil Society is published in Edinburgh, Scotland. 1776: Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations is published in Edinburgh. The American revolution begins. 1822: George W. F. Hege's Elements of the Philosophy of Right, containing his discussion of civil society, is published in German. Hegel's civil society is contrasted with the state and includes households, businesses and community groups. 1845: •Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America profiles the role of voluntary associations in democratic society. 1948: •Paul Samuelson's Economics textbook codified the neo-classical updating of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations as the contemporary view of the private sector. 1958: The U.S. Supreme Court affirms a "right of association" in NAACP vs. Alabama. This right was the basis on which the organization was allowed to keep its membership secret from state officials who were seeking information on civil rights activity in the state. 1961: Amatai Etzioni’s compliance theory of organizations distinguishes coercive, utilitarian and normative compliance. 1970: Milton Friedman’s essay The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits is published in the NYTimes Magazine. It laid out what is arguably the most consequential economic idea of the latter half of the 20th century. 1972: David Horton Smith and others found the Association of Voluntary Action Scholars (AVAS). 1974: David Horton Smith, Jon Van Til and others found the Journal of Voluntary Action Research (JVAR). 1976: Charles E. Lindblom's Politics and Markets is published, outlining the basic two-sector (private/public) model of political economy. 1977: Burton E. Weisbrod's The voluntary nonprofit sector: an economic analysis is published, laying out the basics of nonprofit economics. 1989: Berlin Wall comes down. Satellite nations of the Soviet empire begin to experiment with civil society and invent national third sectors. AVAS is re-founded as the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA). JVAR is re-organized as Nonprofit And Voluntary Sector Quarterly (NVSQ). 1990: Dennis Young and others found Nonprofit Management and Leadership. Kenneth Boulding’s Three Faces of Power identified threat power, associated with the political state; economic power, associated with economic markets; and integrative power, which rests on relationships such as love, legitimacy, respect, affection, community and identity. 1991: European, British and American scholars found the International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR). This same group also founded the international journal, with Helmut Anheier and Martin Knapp, Editors. Voluntas 2001: Robert Putnam's Bowling Alone: The collapse and revival of American community is published in the U.S. Responsible for renewed focus on social capital.