IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/jintdv/v11y1999i2p259-271.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

NGO failure and the need to bring back the state

Author

Listed:
  • S. Akbar Zaidi

    (Karachi, Pakistan)

Abstract

One of the many reasons why non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were considered to be part of the alternative development paradigm, was because the state, its institutions, and public policy, were unable to address a host of issues of underdevelopment. NGOs mushroomed in every corner of the globe, with substantial amounts of multilateral and bilateral funds being diverted through them for developmental purposes. NGOs were perceived to be a panacea for much of the ills that affect underdeveloped countries, and were supposed to do development in a way very different from the way the state pursued these objectives. They were thought to be participatory, community-oriented, democratic, cost effective, and better at targeting the poorest of the poor. However, in recent years, the halo of saintliness around NGOs has almost disappeared, and there is wide acknowledgement of the inability of NGOs to deliver what was expected from them. This paper after analysing the shortcomings of NGOs and the reasons and causes for their failure, suggests that there is need to bring the state back into development once again, with emphasis on reform of the nature of the state. Acknowledging that the state has failed, it argues that the only alternate to state failure is the state itself. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • S. Akbar Zaidi, 1999. "NGO failure and the need to bring back the state," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(2), pages 259-271.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jintdv:v:11:y:1999:i:2:p:259-271
    DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-1328(199903/04)11:2<259::AID-JID573>3.0.CO;2-N
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carrie A. Meyer, 1996. "NGOs and Environmental Public Goods: Institutional Alternatives to Property Rights," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 27(3), pages 453-474, July.
    2. Meyer, Carrie A., 1995. "Opportunism and NGOs: Entrepreneurship and green north-south transfers," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 23(8), pages 1277-1289, August.
    3. Uphoff, Norman, 1993. "Grassroots organizations and NGOs in rural development: Opportunities with diminishing states and expanding markets," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 607-622, April.
    4. Jessica Vivian, 1994. "NGOs and Sustainable Development in Zimbabwe: No Magic Bullets," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 25(1), pages 167-193, January.
    5. Anthony Bebbington & Roger Riddell, 1995. "The direct funding of Southern NGOs by donors: New agendas and old problems," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 7(6), pages 879-893, November.
    6. Jehan Perera, 1995. "In unequal dialogue with donors: The experience of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 7(6), pages 869-878, November.
    7. Kaimowitz, David, 1993. "The role of nongovernmental organizations in agricultural research and technology transfer in Latin America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 21(7), pages 1139-1150, July.
    8. Akbar Zaidi, S., 1994. "Planning in the health sector: For whom, by whom?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 1385-1393, November.
    9. Wiggins, Steve & Cromwell, Elizabeth, 1995. "NGOs and seed provision to smallholders in developing countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 413-422, March.
    10. Adil Najam, 1996. "NGO Accountability: A Conceptual Framework," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 14(4), pages 339-354, December.
    11. Alan Fowler, 1991. "The Role of NGOs in Changing State‐Society Relations: Perspectives from Eastern and Southern Africa," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 9(1), pages 53-84, March.
    12. Meyer, Carrie A., 1992. "A step back as donors shift institution building from the public to the "private" sector," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 20(8), pages 1115-1126, August.
    13. E. A. Brett, 1993. "Voluntary Agencies as Development Organizations: Theorizing the Problem of Efficiency and Accountability," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 24(2), pages 269-304, April.
    14. Bratton, Michael, 1989. "The politics of government-NGO relations in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 569-587, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Catherine E. Herrold & Khaldoun AbouAssi, 2023. "Can service providing NGOs build democracy? Five contingent features," Public Administration & Development, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 43(1), pages 80-91, February.
    2. Kenneth Sherr & Antonio Mussa & Baltazar Chilundo & Sarah Gimbel & James Pfeiffer & Amy Hagopian & Stephen Gloyd, 2012. "Brain Drain and Health Workforce Distortions in Mozambique," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(4), pages 1-7, April.
    3. Francis Amagoh, 2015. "Improving the credibility and effectiveness of non-governmental organizations," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 15(3), pages 221-239, July.
    4. Evan Thomas & Bernard Amadei, 2010. "Accounting for human behavior, local conditions and organizational constraints in humanitarian development models," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 313-327, June.
    5. Lubaina Dawood & Khadija Karim & Gul Nagina & Niamatullah, 2020. "Idealist, Realist or Neo-Realist Financial Aid Donors to Pakistan," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 10(1), pages 1-12, August.
    6. Ramanath, Ramya, 2014. "Ethical implications of resource-limited evaluations: Lessons from an INGO in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 25-37.
    7. Will, Matthias Georg & Pies, Ingo, 2014. "Discourse and regulation failures: The ambivalent influence of NGOs on political organizations," Discussion Papers 2014-2, Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Chair of Economic Ethics.
    8. repec:thr:techub:10010:y:2020:i:1:p:1-12 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Kilby, Patrick, 2006. "Accountability for Empowerment: Dilemmas Facing Non-Governmental Organizations," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 951-963, June.
    10. Baral, Nabin & Stern, Marc J. & Bhattarai, Ranju, 2008. "Contingent valuation of ecotourism in Annapurna conservation area, Nepal: Implications for sustainable park finance and local development," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(2-3), pages 218-227, June.
    11. Claire Mercer, 2002. "NGOs, civil society and democratization: a critical review of the literature," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 2(1), pages 5-22, January.
    12. Jabeen, Sumera, 2016. "Do we really care about unintended outcomes? An analysis of evaluation theory and practice," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 144-154.
    13. Lubaina Dawood Baig & Sana-ur -Rehman, 2017. "Impact of Financial Aid Branding on Public Perception and Favourability," International Business Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 10(11), pages 129-138, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Edwards, Michael & Hulme, David, 1996. "Too close for comfort? the impact of official aid on nongovernmental organizations," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 961-973, June.
    2. Meyer, Carrie A., 1997. "The political economy of NGOs and information sharing," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(7), pages 1127-1140, July.
    3. Carrie A. Meyer, 1996. "NGOs and Environmental Public Goods: Institutional Alternatives to Property Rights," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 27(3), pages 453-474, July.
    4. White, Robert & Eicher, Carl K., 1999. "Ngo'S And The African Farmer: A Skeptical Perspective," Staff Paper Series 11532, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    5. Meyer, Carrie A., 1995. "Opportunism and NGOs: Entrepreneurship and green north-south transfers," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 23(8), pages 1277-1289, August.
    6. Roberts, Susan M. & Jones III, John Paul & Frohling, Oliver, 2005. "NGOs and the globalization of managerialism: A research framework," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(11), pages 1845-1864, November.
    7. Michael W. Kpessa, 2011. "The Politics of Public Policy in Ghana," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 27(1), pages 29-56, March.
    8. Yusuf Bangura, 1994. "Economic Restructuring, Coping Strategies and Social Change: Implications for Institutional Development in Africa," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 25(4), pages 785-827, October.
    9. Banks, Nicola & Hulme, David & Edwards, Michael, 2015. "NGOs, States, and Donors Revisited: Still Too Close for Comfort?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 707-718.
    10. Christy Cannon Lorgen, 1998. "Dancing with the state: the role of NGOs in health care and health policy," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 10(3), pages 323-339.
    11. Biswajit Ghosh, 2009. "NGOs, Civil Society and Social Reconstruction in Contemporary India," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 25(2), pages 229-252, April.
    12. Brass, Jennifer N. & Longhofer, Wesley & Robinson, Rachel S. & Schnable, Allison, 2018. "NGOs and international development: A review of thirty-five years of scholarship," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 136-149.
    13. Brass, Jennifer N., 2012. "Why Do NGOs Go Where They Go? Evidence from Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 387-401.
    14. Thompson, John, 1995. "Participatory approaches in government bureaucracies: Facilitating the process of institutional change," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 23(9), pages 1521-1554, September.
    15. Dorothea Baur & Hans Schmitz, 2012. "Corporations and NGOs: When Accountability Leads to Co-optation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 106(1), pages 9-21, March.
    16. Chowdhury, Tamgid Ahmed & Mukhopadhaya, Pundarik, 2012. "Assessment of multidimensional poverty and effectiveness of microfinance-driven government and NGO projects in the rural Bangladesh," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 41(5), pages 500-512.
    17. Claire Mercer, 2002. "NGOs, civil society and democratization: a critical review of the literature," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 2(1), pages 5-22, January.
    18. Vakil, Anna C., 1997. "Confronting the classification problem: Toward a taxonomy of NGOs," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(12), pages 2057-2070, December.
    19. Wiktorowicz, Quintan, 2002. "The Political Limits to Nongovernmental Organizations in Jordan," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 77-93, January.
    20. Valentinov, Vladislav, 2012. "Understanding the rural third sector: insights from Veblen and Bogdanov," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 41(1/2), pages 177-188.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:jintdv:v:11:y:1999:i:2:p:259-271. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/5102/home .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.