Why Amateurs?

Abstract

Despite the undeniable trend over time toward greater professionalization of so many activities, including those of government and nonprofit organizations, a significant amount of effort that advances social policy in the United States continues to be carried out by persons who receive little, if any, pay or who do work for which they were not professionally trained. Professor Clotfelter's article is the first of a special series of articles to be published in an upcoming issue of Law and Contemporary Problems by Duke University School of Law, addressing the question of whether it is good public policy to rely on and indeed to encourage service by such amateurs. Professor Clotfelter provides an important overview of the subject and its significance, identifying three major forms of amateur service in contemporary America: unpaid volunteering, enlisted work for service organizations, and service-learning in schools. He introduces three important questions facing our use of amateurs: How effective are amateurs in delivering services? What are the effects on participants? What are the political effects? He concludes by presenting an overview of the other articles to be published in the special issue of Law and Contemporary Problems.