The article shows the decisive impact of three dimensions linked to the role of the third sector in social policies: how politicians see nonprofit organizations, how social services delegate, and how social policies involve and plan at local level. As a result of how these three aspects are developing, the subsidiarization of welfare is almost naturally starting to modify the roles of those involved, towards spaces of new privatization of social intervention, that betray the institutive aims of non-profit organizations.only subscribers can see the full article