In the European Union, associations are often seen as holding assets in trust. This is probably a by-product of the Catholic social tradition. In France, it is illegal for the directors of associations to personally benefit from conversions because they are regarded as trustees. The 1999 Annual Conference of the Co-op Party called for that to be made the law in the UK too. But mutuals need to become more democratic too.
Civil organisations are notoriously prone to take-over by small cliques of activists or managers.
Look what happened with the trade unions. The mutual sector is likely to become more important as the State withdraws from large areas of social provision. It is too important to be left to drift. Reform is needed now. All rights reserved.