Conclusion: Policy Impacts of NGOs

Abstract

The long list of books on NGOs, both pro and con, divides into an optimistic, idealist orientation in a first phase of scholarship, followed by more skeptical views during the subsequent phase of research. In the first phase, more accounts were written by true believers, funders, beneficiaries, and all those who generally are motivated to give a very positive account of the facts about NGOs. They are also reluctant to admit to some facts of life that impose, either no matter the facts, or depending on the facts. In the second phase, the criticisms came from the left, who lost faith and, by contrast, reflect a very negative account of NGOs. In brief, objective accounts are few and far between, with even academics generally having their own biases in favor of their view of facts or their values in terms of politics.