The Politics of Charity

The Politics of Charity examines the contemporary political role played by charity, as legally defined, in the developed democratic nations. It considers how this has come about, why it is now significant, what it is that is integral to the content and role of ‘charity’ that allows it to hold such a pivotal political position and why this would seem to be non-transferable to undemocratic nations. It also identifies and assesses the political relevance of different types of charitable activity.

For the first time since 1601, a number of leading common law nations have almost simultaneously chosen to revise and place on the statute books the law relating to charity. The Politics of Charity examines the reasons for this and for the varying legislative outcomes.

This book examines the legal framework and political significance of charity, as developed within England & Wales, contrasts this with the experiences of other common law nations and explores the resulting implications for government/sector relationships in those countries. It suggests that charity law lies at the heart of the relationship between government and the non profit sector, that there is an unmistakeable political agenda driving charity law reform and that the differential in legislative outcomes reflects important differences in the policies pursued by the governments concerned.

Looking at fundamentally different approaches of government towards the sector in the UK, Ireland, the US, New Zealand, Canada, Singapore and Australia, O’Halloran argues the results will have implications for the present workings of parliamentary democracy.

The Politics of Charity will be a valuable resource for academics, regulators and legal practitioners as well as advanced and postgraduate students in law, politics and public policy.