Charity Law and the Liberal State
Why are charities prohibited from pursuing political purposes, and does that prohibition actually make sense? Matthew Harding’s rigorously argued study is the first sustained examination of charity law from a liberal philosophical perspective, and essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the deeper principles shaping what charities can and cannot do.
Charity Law and the Liberal State examines the questions of state action and public discourse raised by the law of charity. Informed by liberal philosophical commitments and of interest to both charity lawyers and political philosophers, it addresses themes including:
- the justifiability of the state’s non-neutral promotion of charitable purposes;
- the role of altruism in charity law;
- charity law, the tax system and the demands of distributive justice;
- the proper treatment of religious and political purposes in charity law;
- and the appropriate response of the liberal state to discrimination in the pursuit of charitable purposes.
The book proceeds through the key fault lines in charity law, namely the boundaries of charitable status, distributive justice, religious purposes, political purposes, and charity and discrimination.
In so doing it builds a coherent liberal theory of why charity law exists and how it should operate. Although Harding draws on the charity law of Australia, England, the United States, Canada, and other common law jurisdictions, his arguments have relevance across the common law world and beyond.
For UK fundraisers and charity leaders, the chapter on political purposes is of particular practical significance. Harding examines precisely why the long-standing restriction on charities having political purposes developed, and makes a carefully reasoned case for why those restrictions may not, on liberal principles, be fully justified.
About Matthew Harding
Matthew Harding is Professor at Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne, where he specialises in private law, charity law, and legal philosophy. He has published widely on the law of trusts, charities, and philanthropy, and has been a visiting scholar at Oxford, Cambridge, and Harvard. He is one of the leading academic authorities on charity law in the common law world.
Reviews
“If you want to understand where rules preventing charities from having political purposes come from, and why they may not make sense, this is the book for you.”
Rhodri Davies, Founder and Director, Why Philanthropy Matters
“This work is a scholarly exposition of the law of charity and its application and limitations in modern society.”
Cambridge University Press catalogue
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- Review of charity law announced (19 June 2001)
- Lib Dem MP calls for ‘long overdue’ charity law reform (23 September 2003)
- New book on charity law published (23 January 2000)
