Civil society and social policy – the future role

The last chapter briefly presents the historical development of the role of civil society as a way of showing that, given the increased pressure on welfare states, there can be conflicts and contradictions in the role of different actors within social policy. Future development and the need for civil society activities will be strongly influenced by this pressure, including whether to be complementary or substitute for state social policy, as well as how the role of the market can be with regard to social policy. It argues that we still have several gaps in our knowledge, including how to make decisions based on the best possible evidence in relation to a number of balances between state, market and civil societywhen making decisions on social policy in the future.