Governing the Hollow State

TLDR

The authors have studied the hollow state—a metaphor for the growing use of third‑party, often nonprofit, providers delivering social services on behalf of the state—for the past decade. The study seeks to evaluate how different mechanisms, structures, and incentives affect the effectiveness of contracted services and to explore how government contracting with third‑party providers influences perceived state legitimacy. The authors examine the effectiveness of various mechanisms, structures, and incentives in promoting the performance of contracted services. The research has focused on the structures, incentives, and mechanisms used to control third‑party providers.

Abstract

For the past ten years the authors have conducted a concentrated research program on the dimensions and impact of the hollow state. The hollow state is a metaphor for the increasing use of third parties, often nonprofits, to deliver social services and generally act in the name of the state. The types of structures, incentives, and mechanisms used to control third-party providers have been the focus of this research. The empirical thrust of this research is on how effective various types of mechanisms, structures, and incentives are at promoting the effectiveness of contracted services. The normative question this research has raised, but not answered, is, What effect does government contracting with third-party providers have on the perceived legitimacy of the state?