| Summary: | 碩士 === 中國文化大學 === 政治學系 === 99 === In the society of a highly industrialized country, services from the public sector and product outputs from the private sector are no longer diversified enough to satisfy the needs from its people, leading to poor quality of daily operations in the country. Non-profit organizations (NPO) serve as the third sector to save the above situation.
The existence and the number of NGO in a country provide a quality indicator to how much the country is advanced for its people to actively participate in public services. In this situation, the government should encourage its people to contribute their experience and enthusiasm when taking parts in public services such that the society can better understand the government's policies and prevent the government from abusing its power. Accordingly, it is expected that various NPO, such as the ones from many religions can also coordinate from their inside and actively reach to the outside world – fully exerting their role as the third sector to bridge the gap between the public and private sectors and help stabilize the society.
Tzu Chi, a local NGO aimed at Buddhist compassion relief, is now advancing its influence globally, and is certified as an international human relief organization by the United Nations. Following the original teaching from Master Yin Shun - “Work for Buddhism and for all living beings,” Tzu Chi’s positive influence is expanding over time and is the most successful and impressive model of public services since 1950s in Taiwan. The success of Tzu Chi can be explained by the following three factors: its alienation to politics, its integration with local cultures, and its willingness to help foreigners around the globe.
In the current study, systematic interviews were conducted with opinion leaders from the grass root about the internal operations of the Tzu Chi Foundation. In addition, members from the Tzu Chi Foundation were also surveyed to similar issues. Together with previous literature in public participations, voluntary services, religious meliorism, the current study is aimed to investigate why and how Tzu Chi is such a successful NPO model. As a country is made by its people and a person is determined by the mind, the righteousness and sincerity of a religious organization, such as Tzu Chi Foundation, is highly influential to people’s mind and becoming a safe valve between the government and the people.
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