Welfare state and voluntarism. Or why 'changing the welfare mix' means different things in different contexts

This paper aims at describing some of the structural preconditions for voluntary organized provision of welfare in Denmark. We do so by summarizing available information about three interdependent dimensions which too often are treated separately; (1) the individual level of volunteering, (2) the organizational level of voluntary organizations and associations, and (3) various macro economic measures of the size and impact of the voluntary sector. We think an empirically based and close investigation of the actual size, composition, and operation of the voluntary sector is necessary, because the more general and popular ‘civil society talk’ leaves too little room for taking into consideration the specific ‘division of labour’ between state, market and voluntary sector that characterize different welfare systems; a fact that, as we shall demonstrate, is highly consequential for not only the capacity but also the role played by the voluntary sector.