Abstract
Five essays in this volume examine the work of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in specific sectors of important international concern. This introduction to those chapters sets out common groundwork for their enquiry. The common working hypothesis is based on an earlier research project1 that included a series of functional case studies2 touching on efforts by the United Nations (UN) and associated agencies to channel resources to NGOs:
As part of a ‘privatising’3 of world politics and the emergence of a global civil society, bilateral and multilateral organisations are increasingly relying upon NGOs. To the extent that this is true and either beneficial or detrimental for enhanced global governance — that is, working for or against better solutions to or management of problems that extend beyond the capacity of individual states — a policy prescription would follow: this trend could and should be either accelerated or attenuated.
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Notes
Leon Gordenker and Thomas G. Weiss, ‘Pluralizing global governance: analytical approaches and dimensions’ and ‘NGO participation in the international policy process’, in Thomas G. Weiss and Leon Gordenker (eds), NGOs, the UN, and Global Governance (Boulder Colo.: Lynne Rienner, 1996), pp. 17–47 and 209–221.
This term is in quotes because it means the provision of public goods financed with public resources but carried out by private organizations; this should be distinguished from the enchantment with the notion of eliminating public services altogether. For a discussion, see Steven R. Smith and Michael Lipsky, Non-Profits for Hire: The Welfare State in the Age of Contracting (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1993);
and Lester Salamon and Helmut Anheier, The Emerging Sector: An Overview (Baltimore Md.: The Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies, 1994).
See Peter Sollis, ‘Partners in development? The state, NGOs, and the UN in Central America’, in ibid., pp. 189–206; and Paul Nelson, The World Bank and Non-Governmental Organizations (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995), especially Chapters 4–6.
David Korten, Getting to the 21st Century: Voluntary Action and the Global Agenda (West Hartford, Conn.: Kumarian Press, 1990), especially pp. 102–5.
For example, see Peter Willetts (ed.), The Conscience of the World: The Influence of Non-Governmental Organizations in the U.N. System (London: Hurst, 1996).
See Ian Smillie, The Alms Bazaar: Altruism Under Fire — Non-profit Organizations and International Development (London: IT Publications, 1995).
See S. Neil MacFarlane and Thomas G. Weiss, ‘Regional organizations and regional security’, Security Studies, 2 (1), Autumn 1992, pp. 6–37;
and Jarat Chopra and Thomas G. Weiss, ‘Prospects for containing conflict in the former Second World’, Security Studies 4 (3), Spring, 1995, pp. 552–83.
See Michael Edwards and David Hulme (eds), Beyond the Magic Bullet: NGO Performance and Accountability in the Post-Cold War World (West Hartford, Conn.: Kumarian Press, 1996).
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© 1998 Third World Quarterly and Academic Council on the United Nations System
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Gordenker, L., Weiss, T.G. (1998). Devolving Responsibilities: a Framework for Analysing NGOs and Services. In: Weiss, T.G. (eds) Beyond UN Subcontracting. International Political Economy Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-26263-2_2
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