What Should Be the Role of Nonprofit Organizations and Philanthropy in Democratic Societies?
By Matthieu Debief
My Approach to Philanthropy and Nonprofit Organizations
As a political philosopher, I explore how nonprofit organizations and philanthropy should be structured to align with the ideals of democratic societies.
At its core, my research addresses the growing influence of nonprofit organizations and philanthropy in shaping public policy and social outcomes. In democratic societies, it is essential that all citizens have a fair opportunity to direct decisions that affect public goods. However, when nonprofits or philanthropic organizations disproportionately shape policies—often without sufficient public accountability—there’s a risk that the democratic process becomes skewed toward some set of private interests.
By developing principles that clarify the role nonprofits should play in democratic decision-making, my research contributes to the ongoing discussion about how to maintain the integrity of democratic institutions. These principles aim to ensure that nonprofit organizations enhance, rather than undermine, democratic equality by promoting transparency, accountability, and public engagement. To better grasp my interest, grasp the following examples:
Between 2000 and 2008, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated over $2 billion to 2,600 schools across 45 U.S. states, aiming to address issues within the American education system. Bill and Melinda Gates saw the K-12 education system as “obsolete” and called for drastic reforms. In a context of public budget cuts, the Gates Foundation distributed funds nationwide, with conditions promoting an effectiveness-based approach to education. These conditions included the fragmentation of large schools into smaller, autonomous units. However, this restructuring increased competition for resources and diminished access to extracurricular activities that larger institutions could offer.
More recently, in 2024, Swiss Minister of Housing Guy Parmelin unveiled an “action plan to combat the housing shortage” during a time when vacancy rates in urban areas were below 1%. The plan, however, favored construction and real estate professionals, offering little benefit to civil society in terms of social housing or market regulation. Lobbying interests played a significant role in shaping the outcome: 14 representatives of the construction and real estate sectors participated in the discussions, compared to only six groups representing public and tenant interests. As a member of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, Guy Parmelin was widely expected to be more receptive to the construction and real estate lobby (notably, he was reluctant to use the term ‘housing crisis’). However, both the Swiss Federal Housing Department and several media outlets believe that the imbalanced representation during discussions significantly influenced the final action plan.
These examples illustrate how nonprofits and philanthropic organizations can serve as vehicles for private influence over public policy: by making philanthropic donations or setting up interest groups, such organizations give groups of citizens a more prominent voice in shaping society. However, this is problematic as it goes against the idea that each citizen should have an equal say in the process of collective self-determination. Thus, are the availability of resources and the freedom of private initiative sufficiently solid normative bases to justify the political contribution of non-profit organizations with a view to informing and influencing democratic decision-making? What limits can rightly regulate such initiatives? These are just a few of the questions raised by such cases.
Nevertheless, I believe nonprofits and philanthropy play an essential role in democracies. Nonprofit organizations and philanthropy can fulfill various and important functions with respect to decision-making: bulwark against the state; training ground for democratic life or transmission belt of political preferences through civil society. In all such senses, nonprofit organizations and philanthropy may serve as alternative venues of politics by either directly providing goods and services in a way that complement or relieve public institutional action or by advocating for specific policies (such as lobbies or think-tank do).
However, in a democracy, there are good reasons to believe that, when making collectively binding decisions about public goods, citizens should have fair opportunities to direct the collective decisions that affect them. I therefore believe that we need a healthy democratic ecology based on a rich associative framework to improve the chances of democratic citizens to influence collective decision-making on an equal basis.
My Academic Background and Research Focus
I am currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. Living in a country where philanthropy and nonprofit organizations are increasingly influential, and having worked in some of these organizations myself, I have become deeply interested in understanding their societal role. My doctoral research aims to develop action-guiding, morally grounded principles about what should be the role of nonprofit organizations in liberal democracies.
In addition to writing my dissertation, I serve as a teaching assistant and research assistant on a Swiss National Science Foundation project titled The Margin of Corruption. My research primarily focuses on the relationship between private and public interests, with particular attention to nonprofit organizations, philanthropy, democratic theory, political corruption, and trust.
I have recently published my first academic article, Philanthropy and Democracy: Two Kinds of Authority, and will soon publish a co-authored handbook chapter titled Philanthropy and Institutional Trust.
Why My Research Matters
In practice, my findings can serve as a guide for nonprofits and philanthropic foundations themselves, helping them to reflect on their societal role and ensuring that their efforts align with democratic values by following solid ethical standards. Public institutions and policymakers can also use this research to critically assess whether existing legal frameworks and policies adequately regulate nonprofit influence, ensuring that public interests are fairly represented in policy discussions.
Moreover, in an era where nonprofit organizations and philanthropy is increasingly stepping in to fill gaps left by public funding, my research highlights the need for a balanced approach—one that respects the contributions of private organizations but also safeguards the democratic principle of equal influence for all citizens.
Matthieu Debief is a PhD candidate in political philosophy at the Université de Genève. His research focuses on how nonprofit organizations and philanthropy should be structured to align with the ideals of democratic societies. His first published article ‘‘Philanthropy and Democracy: Two Kinds of Authority’’ can be found here and he will soon publish a second article (co-authored with Emanuela Ceva) titled ‘‘Philanthropy and Institutional Trust’’ in the Routledge Handbook on “Multidisciplinary Perspectives in Philanthropy’’.