Between Decorporatization and Contract-Based Governance: The Impact of Public Funding on Voluntary Organizations’ Advocacy Engagement in Norway, 1983 to 2013

This article examines how public funding shapes nonprofit advocacy under changing institutional conditions, using Norway as a case of a shift from corporatist representation toward pluralist and contract-based governance. Drawing on survey data from national-level voluntary organizations collected in 1983 and 2013, the analysis assesses how the amount and the share of public funding relate to advocacy engagement. The findings show that the amount of public funding has become increasingly linked to maintaining contact with public authorities, while the share of public funding plays a weaker and more stable role. Public funding is also associated with increased engagement in policymaking arenas among organizations with less institutionalized access to the policy process. There is little evidence that contract-based governance has redirected advocacy toward policy implementation. Overall, the results demonstrate that the effects of public funding are conditioned by institutional arrangements and organizational position.