Individuals are very fragile and powerless against governments, state institutions and companies. Thus, they should be organized in order to gain power and trace the politics and applications which are done by official power holders. Assumption of official institutions behaving always fairly and right cannot be considered as right. Individuals who want to protect their rights can only accomplish it by collective behaviors. Like inspectors and journalists these organizations reach, collect and share relevant information to stakeholders. These processes secure the functionality of separation of powers and basic rights and freedom.

NGOs have the same role of controlling and pressuring the government and the state (and, for instance, highlighting corruption) in developing countries as they do in developed countries, in the context of civil society. I think, the main difference is that in developing countries they are often more vulnerable and subject to repression - given to not fully formalized state structures or a not working state of rights.

I agree with Philipp, and that developing countries tend to have less established/effective state monitoring bodies than more developed countries, further increasing the importance of NGOs.

Thank you Ufuk, Philipp and Sarah for your views. I would request you to think of the question from the point of view of the need for civil society participation in governance. To an extent what Philipp says "in developing countries they are often more vulnerable and subject to repression - given to not fully formalized state structures or a not working state of rights" is correct. In developing countries, particularly the erstwhile colonies, the mind set of the governments (though now independent) still resembles that of the colonial governments that existed before. The reason perhaps is in the continuation of the same system of the executive/judicial/legislative frameworks that the colonisers used to rule before.

An enlightened public participation in the form of NGOs and civic groups therefore is necessary to bring in pore transparency and accountability through reformations. Take the case of India - the Right to Information Act, 2005 came about through a civil case in one of the regional or High Courts five years earlier. The Supreme Court of India, on appeal, expanded the meaning to bring it within the provisions of Art.19 of the Constitution. RTI as it is called today has become a powerful tool in the hands of individual citizens to question corruption and inaction in governance functions and has been stated as a catalyst for better governance in India.

Change comes slowly, particularly in democracies. Lasting change comes only by enlightened citizen initiatives.

I would appreciate if you can give me examples of NGO-led chages in qulaity of governance (in the sphere of law/rule of law) in other countries or suggest reading materials for comparison.

Have a great day!

Can we say Arab Spring is an example for this issue? Or Gezi Upheavals in Turkey? Uprising protests in Ukraine at the moment? Or Greenpace actions?

In the post-Soviet countries NGOs are often used to infiltrate foreign lobbyists to influence the government. Non-governmental organizations are trying to promote the adoption of relevant laws of various interest groups . In Ukraine - even before the " orange revolution" , according to the Ministry of Justice of the country , only on January 1, 2004 were registered 399 international organizations , 421 charitable organization with international status , structural cells 179 foreign NGOs . The main functions of NGOs in the preparatory stage of "color revolutions" : 1. Gathering information about the situation in the country for external customers . It is supervised by the security services , 2. Formation of networks and protest groups by working with youth and other categories of the population dissatisfied with the authorities 3. Training and funding activists 4. Establishing contacts and attracting supporters of representative government , various elites , media , law enforcement 5. Preliminary information and ideological pressure on the regime. Promotion subject contradictions and problems in society.

Incidentally, non-governmental organizations in Russia is limited.

NGOs play a crucial role in India to mobalise the people to participate in elections. That indicates the Indian history one of the party came into near to rule in our India capital. That new party agenda is to provide good governess to the people and do justice for needy. In this context NGOs role is very crucial. NGOs aware the people enroll the youth and mobilize them to participate on election voting. Now in Andhra Pradesh the NGOs initiate the people especially youth to enroll their names in voters list. NGOs aware the people and change the country.

Thank you, Dr Prabhakar. I do agree that NGOs can play a huge role in enhancing the awareness among people.

In some forum, I came across a discussion that tried to classify NGOs as:

1. 'Ideology' based (like promoting religious beliefs)

2. 'Public cause' based (like promoting education, care for elderly, etc)

3. 'Reform' based (like campaigning for legislation for gay rights or gender rights, child rights, prisoner rights, etc)

4. 'Service' based (like volunteering to maintain public places clean, helping blind people at road crossings, distributing disaster relief, etc)

Can these NGOs, in their myriad forms be considered as drivers of social change?

Do they affect 'Rule of Law'?

If they do, in what ways?

Hi,

Clearly,, one of the obvious answers is the role they play as watchdogs, speaking 'truth to power'.

However, this depends on geo-political context. In my experience as a researcher and NGO practitioner, NGOs can be riddled with as many problems as nation-states - legitimacy being the biggest (who do they represent, and how are they held to account, etc.). In the Global North NGOs often play the role of the critic, and advocate for change - if they are not captured by other sectoral interests, such as business (corporate funded NGOs like The Nature Conservancy have been accused of this). In the South, they are often clients, either of Northern NGOs, or other sources of funding (often donor agencies). When NGOs become service delivery agencies, then there are greater risks of no longer speaking 'truth to power' but doing what they are told (often necessary for many NGO employees in the South, who need work to survive).

In my own work on REDD+ for example (look at my publications on my profile) we have found that Northern NGOs are most antipathetic to this proposed climate change mitigation mechanism, while Southern NGOs (who may be receiving funds to implement REDD+ projects) are far less hostile.

This should encourage us to see that 'NGOs' are not homogenous,but another 'sector' in the 'multi-stakeholder' world of global (environmental, social) governance, with as many sub-interests other non-state actors, and state actors.

Tim

Tim,

True to every word of your analysis. In the context of the developing world, another dimension challenges the legitimacy angle that you brought out - the State. Some States perceive independent and socially committed apolitical NGOs working for public causes as being anti-development and try to use State power to suppress or dissipate the NGOs efforts. The irony is the State as well as the NGO share the same perception or objective. Due to certain vested interests in the polity as well as pressures from business community, the State ends up portraying the NGO as anti-people or anti-development.

In this regard, I agree with you that the geo-political context is very relevant to the analysis. It is also very pertinent that we must look at NGOs as an inclusive stake-holder not as a vested interest group, for development. NGOs working with people on ground, people who are otherwise far removed from the power centers, are better placed to bring to the table the aspirations and perceptions of those people. By taking them into the planning process, governments at all levels will be able to appreciate the dynamic of the society and evolve programs more relevant to the 'silent' segments of the society.

Hi again,

In many ways, this is why there is an onus on NGOs to have good governance. A few years ago there was a charter circulating, signed by Greenpeace, Friends of he Earth, and others, committing themselves to accountability and transparency. As we increasingly move to a non-state centric world, it is vital that the new holders of authority have the same kinds of checks and balances in place as parliamentary democracies...

Welcome to a new year!

When S says there is a 'salient' segment of society, what does it mean? And what is the implication of the 'state' engaging NGOs that are "apolitical" in designing governance? How can we truly see any organisation as disinterested in governance or have "no vested interest" in what IT is involved in. Pray, I make some sense.

I wish I could agree that there are entities (much less NGOs) that do not have vested interests in what they do - including interests in how governments are run. It does feel like it is the level of vested interests that differentiates all GROUPS in any kind of project - including governance. I do believe that NGOs are not apolitical. They are instead NOT contesting authority with political parties but are themselves centres of political activity.

I believe, activism (political activism) is necessary for NGOs to make their roles felt in creating the right atmosphere for good governance - anywhere!

As long as NGOs live up to their objective of really not an arm of government, they could be effective. Unfortunately in many societies they are set up by the vested interests of government to"voice" out what the govt really wanted.

A case in point is Malaysia.

Thank you Aminu and Addul Latif.

From academic research as well as direct observation, it does appear that some NGOs, though outwardly claiming neutrality, are indeed controlled by vested interests. It would be utopian to imagine that it should not happen that way. After all, NGOs also need funds and the people with deep pockets have deeper interests too!!

In the case of developing countries, I am trying to formulate a recommendation which in summary is as follow:

1. We need legislation that would facilitate freedom in the functioning of NGOs. A legislation that allows the formation of NGOs to work in the social sector who can not be throttled by government in the name of law & order; financial scrutiny; repression of expression (gatherings, for example)

2. Government must notify certain areas like non-formal education, health and hygiene, better agricultural practices, promotion of cottage and village industries along with facility to create marketing infrastructure for the producers directly, etc, as core areas where forming an NGO will be instantly recognised by the govt. In other words, all the areas where government is unable to reach people due to structural and organisational limitations.

3. Once a registered NGO physically starts working with people on ground for at least a year, govt must give grants on the condition that the NGO sustains its activity, even though 'official' inspection by govt is not compulsory. The grant should be adequate enough to sustain the motivation and commitment to the cause.

4. Certain basic items like for example, polio vaccine for NGOs promoting child health, must be freely given to the NGO by public health service, on condition that a defined population in the area is vaccinated and report submitted for govt records.

The above mentioned are just a brief overview of what I have in mind. By doing so, I feel the government, people and NGOs - all will benefit. THis will also promote a sense of public service among people and per se dependence on govt for everything will reduce.

Please offer your comments.

warm regards.

Dear Prof. Srinivasan, wondering if the consideration is given to the fact that the NGOs may also need to be 'monitored'? They are seen as the watchdogs to the government, who actually monitor or watch them and their activities, as other colleagues mentioned above, there are interest groups behind them.

Dear Hong Ching Goh,

Thank you for raising a very pertinent issue again. During my interaction with certain 'influential' citizens active in the NGO circuit, I had often heard the remark that NGOs also come in shades of grey. There are NGOs who actually exploit a target population in the name of protecting them with the active connivance of certain corrupt officials. There are some who receive huge funds from unnamed sources obviously with vested interests. Keeping all these factors, I have been tempted to think of legislation as the key to bring in transparency and accountability in their functioning too.

And then I was looking at all the legislation that we have for example, the Factories Act. There are Inspectors who are to make sure that violations in respect of working age and conditions are penalised. What actually happens on ground is that such laws arm the vested interests to cut out new channels for corruption. So, law is not the answer, though its existence may help. What else? Presently, I have no answers...

Dear Hong Ching Goh,

Thank you for raising a very pertinent issue again. During my interaction with certain 'influential' citizens active in the NGO circuit, I had often heard the remark that NGOs also come in shades of grey. There are NGOs who actually exploit a target population in the name of protecting them with the active connivance of certain corrupt officials. There are some who receive huge funds from unnamed sources obviously with vested interests. Keeping all these factors, I have been tempted to think of legislation as the key to bring in transparency and accountability in their functioning too.

And then I was looking at all the legislation that we have for example, the Factories Act. There are Inspectors who are to make sure that violations in respect of working age and conditions are penalised. What actually happens on ground is that such laws arm the vested interests to cut out new channels for corruption. So, law is not the answer, though its existence may help. What else? Presently, I have no answers...

Hi.

On that topic, you might have an interest in a book by O'Rourke, « Community-Driven Regulation: Balancing Development and the Environment in Vietnam » London: MIT Press, 299 pp.

Through several cases O'Rourke shows that within particular conditions, including sometimes links with international NGOs, local NGOs can support the implementation go the law.

In previous articles, we had shown that networks of international and local NGOs can have an influence on corporations governance, although with some limitations.

• Rojas, M., M’Zali, B., Turcotte, M.-F. et Merrigan, P. 2009. «Bringing about Changes to Corporate Social Policy through Shareholder Activism: Filers, Issues, Targets and Success», Business and Society Review, vol. 114, no 2, p. 217-252.

• Turcotte, M.-F., Clegg, S.R. et Marin, J. 2008. « Enacting ecological and collaborative rationality through multiparty collaboration – a case of innovation in governance», International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, vol. 3, no 3/4, p. 234-261.

• Turcotte, M.-F., de Bellefeuille, S. et Den Hond, F. 2007 « Gildan Inc.: Influencing Corporate Governance in the Textile Sector », Journal of Corporate Citizenship, no 27, p. 23-36.

You might also have an interest on certifications produced by NGOs:

• Turcotte, Marie-France, Reinecke, Juliane, den Hond, Frank. 2013. « Explaining variation in the multiplicity of private social and environmental régulation : a multi-case intégration across the coffee, forestry and textile sectors » Business and politics. Pre-publication DOI 10.1515

Sorry for delay in response. I had missed the message.

I hope this may help. Regards. Marie-France Turcotte

Thank you, Marie-France for very helpful suggestions.

Dear Prof. Rajamanickam Srinivasan,

I really find your opinions useful for my research which is about the contribution of NGOs in Education for sustainability. I am writing the literature review of NGOs' influences in developing countries and the challenges/difficulties of working in those countries. 

Do you have any published papers related your abovementioned ideas?

Thank you!

Kieu

NGOs can play an important role in gaining good governance in a developing country, but also in other countries. NGOs can play a pro-social role of analysis, verification and control of effectiveness, the level of democracy, and the issue of the scale of the pro-social nature of the system of power and governance.

Best regards,

Dariusz Prokopowicz