Gap Between the ‘Ought’ and the ‘is’ of the Third Sector: A Qualitative Case Study of Andalusia (Spain)

Abstract

The origin of the Third Sector (TS) in Spain is rooted in the defenceof social rights and demands made of the State regarding socialtransformation. With the development of the Welfare State, therole of the TS has progressively changed, becoming primarily aprovider of services to Public Administrations (PAs), and movingaway from its roots advocating and demanding social justice. Thisarticle examines the distance between the original intentions(‘ought’) and the current day-to-day actions (‘is’) of the TS in thecase of the region of Andalusia (Spain), focusing on a three-dimensional analysis: the objectives that mark its action, itsfunding model, and relations within the organisation. Using aqualitative methodology based on Thematic Content Analysis, thediscourses of actors involved in the TS (managers, professionals,volunteers, users, public administration professionals, and otheractors) have been analysed and linked, concluding that the gapgenerated between intention and deed, or‘ought’and‘is’, arethe result of external contextual elements, but also of decisionsmade within the TS