1990年代起「政府領航、人民划槳」思想盛行,企業組織與公民社會成為划槳夥伴,2008年金融海嘯導致市場失靈與企業動能不足,公民社會扮演重要角色,公民社會培力成為重要政策。2010年英國卡麥隆政府上臺,開啟「大社會」計畫,藉由社區與志願服務團體培力、公民投入社會行動、開放參與公共服務執行等措施,建立道德經濟學的道路,但是兩年後卡麥隆首相鮮少提起「大社會」計畫。現今許多國家重視公民社會力量,進行公民社會組織的培力工作,英國「大社會」計畫是代表案例,這個計畫的興起、內容、效果與檢討有認識之必要,瞭解政府的培力政策及措施,以及對公民社會培力治理帶來的影響與啟發。
Since the 1990s, the idea of "the government steering and the people rowing" has become popularized. Corporate organizations and civil society have become partners in governance. Following the occurrence of the financial tsunami in 2008, due of market failures and insufficient entrepreneurial dynamics, civil society has played a more important role, and empowering civil society has become a major policy direction in many countries. After David Cameron came to power in 2010, he promoted the idea of the Big Society, hoping that through empowering community and voluntary groups, opening up participation in public service provision, and citizen involvement in social action, the country could establish a new path of moral economics. But within two years, Cameron was no longer talking about the Big Society, and people became aware of the challenges of civil society empowerment. At present, many countries are advocating the empowerment of civil society. Therefore, it is important to understand the fate of the Big Society program, from its beginnings to its ultimate failure. This article focuses on the origins, content, effect and critics of the Big Society program and considers the implications for the empowerment of civil society.