Associations and public services provision in Spanish municipalities

Abstract

Associations are considered a key actor in the development of the welfare mix. In fact, they play an important role in providing public services. The involvement, however, of associations in the processes of service provision is different according to their specialization in political activism or service provision, as well as other associational traits. The literature also indicates that this involvement produces some changes in associations’ internal structure (i.e. professionalization and bureaucratization). This paper seeks to show these phenomena among a representative survey of associations in Spanish cities. The content of co-production or service provision is also analyzed by studying sector, kind of services and the level of public administration with which associations establish agreements for services delivery. Main results show the importance of services provision specialization (policy vs. services provision) as a factor to explain the participation in co-production processes, the influence of this factor in internal organizational processes, and the importance of the regional level of government at the point of establishing these kinds of collaborative agreements between public administration and associations. Keywords: Co-production, participation, associations.