R. R. (Ronny) Reshef

Our knowledge about the complicated relationship between civil society and government is

too limited. In recent decades, some theories on this relationship have been developed.

However, these theories have not yet been sufficiently operationalised and tested. This

research is intended to operationalize and test two of the most broadly accepted theories on

nonprofit-government relations from a longitudinal perspective. The first theory is the

voluntary failures of Salamon [1995], in which inherent weaknesses of the nonprofit sector

are conceptualised. The second theory is the nonprofit-government relations lenses of

Young [2000], enabling a thorough analysis of this dynamic, multi faceted relation. In

order to test these theories, a historical case study of over 200 years will be analysed using

an adaptation of the methodology of de Moor et al. [2016] for analysing the longitudinal

transformation of institutions. This methodology was developed in order to analyse and

compare rules and regulations systematically. The case study has unique characteristics,

enabling the study of additional facets such as the relationship between [Jewish] religious

civil societies and [Dutch] secular government, minority-majority relations and

segregation-integration patterns. This research is intended to enable an improved, more

detailed understanding of long term variations in mutual influence patterns and power

relations between civil society and government. The conceptual insights could also be

relevant for similar modern case studies.