CFP: Upcoming Special Issue of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly on Membership and Mutual Benefit Associations
DEADLINE FOR MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSIONS: May 25, 2012
Guest editors:
Mary Tschirhart,
Professor of Public Administration and Director, Institute for Nonprofit
Research, Education and Engagement, North Carolina State
University, 919-513-7031 (phone), mary_tschirhart@ncsu.edu
Beth
Gazley, Associate Professor, School of Public and Environmental Affairs,
Indiana University-Bloomington, 812-855-1464 (phone), bgazley@indiana.edu
Sponsor:
ASAE:
Center for Association Leadership, Washington, DC
Membership
associations, many of which are mutual benefit organizations, serve social,
political, cultural, sports, religious, occupational and professional
groups. Little research attention has yet been paid to their special
characteristics and dynamics, particularly in international contexts (Schofer, E. & Fourcade-Gourinchas, M., 2001). David Knoke
wrote in 1986, “Put bluntly, association research remains a largely
unintegrated set of disparate findings, in dire need of a compelling
theory…..[Without it], students of associations and interest groups seem
destined to leave their subject in scientific immaturity.” And two
decades later, Tschirhart (2006, 535-6) concluded that “these earlier
assessments still hold today…. [W]e need more theories and empirical work”
about the role of associations in civic life.
This
special issue will focus scholarly attention on this distinct organizational
form and help build theories and a research agenda that are directly applicable
to nonprofits operating as mutual benefit associations with membership
bases. Eight to nine manuscripts will be selected through a formal
peer review process. All manuscripts should include brief commentary on the
practical application of the knowledge generated.
We
invite research articles and conceptual papers on any of the following topics:
Behavior
in and structure of membership and mutual benefit associations. Are
assumptions about voluntary behavior derived from research on charities
applicable to associations where the incentives to volunteer may be
different? What do we know about the social- and career-related
motivations and the intrinsic and extrinsic incentives for participating in
associations? What structural, political, and other influences explain the structure
of these organizations, or the interactions among association staff, members,
and boards? What should we understand about the behavior or structure of
new forms of associational activity, such as “electronic” or “virtual”
membership organizations?
Comparative
and international research on associational activity. How do
associational activity and levels of citizen involvement in membership
organizations vary among nations? How can sociological, political,
economic and other theories of the state be applied to associational
activity? What models and empirical findings exist to build an
understanding of the form and function of associations in different societies?
New
forms of research for understanding associations. New
forms of research lend themselves in exciting ways to an understanding of
associational behavior, including social network analysis, geo-spatial
analysis, micro-research on neighborhoods, and other methods. We invite
either reviews that analyze methodological approaches or submissions
demonstrating the use of new or under-utilized methods.
Inputs
and outcomes of associational activity. Who joins and who is served by
membership associations? What are the social, political, technical and
economic outcomes? To what extent are membership associations producing public
and mutual benefits? Whose voices are being heard and served through
these associations? What impact do they have on their various
stakeholders?
Association
management and effectiveness. What models of strategic planning,
management, business enterprise, and evaluation are used in the association
field? What financial models are in play and how does their use affect
financial and other outcomes? How are innovations diffused through
association members? How do membership associations identify and manage
competing interests? How do lobbying strategies and outcomes vary across
associations and compare with those of other types of nonprofit organizations
that do not have membership bases? How, if at all, do associations prepare
members for civic engagement or otherwise seve as schools of democracy?
Symposium
Conference
The
NCSU Institute for Nonprofit Research, Education and Engagement (INPREE) is
planning a small research conference on membership associations in Spring 2012
at North Carolina State University. The special issue will rely on an
open submission process, where attendance at this conference is not
required. However, for some authors, the conference will offer a means
for strengthening paper drafts before final submission. If you are
interested in learning more about the conference, please contact Mary at mary_tschirhart@ncsu.edu.
Manuscript
Submission Instructions
Please
submit final manuscripts by Friday, May 25, 2012. Manuscripts
should be no more than 8,000 words (including text, references, tables,
footnotes and appendices). Articles will be accepted consistent with
NVSQ’s publishing standards. The NVSQ editors reserve the right of final
approval on all submissions.
All
manuscripts should include some commentary on the practical application of
their findings or ideas. All manuscripts should follow NVSQ guidelines
respecting format, length, and organization: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsProdDesc.nav?ct_p=manuscriptSubmission&prodId=Journal200775
. A full blind peer review process will be followed, with preliminary
decisions prospectively by September 2012, and final decisions early 2013.
Submit
manuscripts directly to http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/nvsq. After beginning
a new submission, click “manuscript type” and select “Special Issue
Manuscripts.” Also be sure to indicate in your cover letter that the
manuscript is intended for the special issue on associations.
_________________________________________________________________________
Knoke,
D. (1986). Associations and interest groups. Annual Review of
Sociology, 12: 1-21.
Schofer, E. and Fourcade-Gourinchas, M. (2001). The
structural contexts of civic engagement: Voluntary association membership in
comparative perspective. American Sociological Review, 66(6): 806-828.
Tschirhart, M. (2006).
Nonprofit Membership Associations. In The nonprofit sector: A research
handbook, 2nd ed., Edited by W.W. Powell and R. Steinberg, 523-41. New
Haven: Yale University Press.
