IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/padxxx/v43y2023i1p80-91.html

Can service providing NGOs build democracy? Five contingent features

Author

Listed:
  • Catherine E. Herrold
  • Khaldoun AbouAssi

Abstract

This article studies the role of service providing NGOs in the Middle East in promoting democracy. Challenging the assumption that service providing NGOs are apolitical, the authors argue that service providing NGOs play important roles in promoting democracy. They do so by serving as public arenas, or spaces in which members and beneficiaries practice democratic habits such as discussion and debate, collective problem solving, free expression, rights claiming, and the like—all of which contribute to the cultivation of a participatory form of democracy. Drawing upon existing literature, interviews, and participant observation of NGOs in Egypt, Lebanon, and Palestine, the authors argue that five features shape the role of service providing NGOs in promoting democracy. These include: (1) organizational readiness, or the organization's embeddedness in its beneficiary community and its organizational capacity; (2) organizational governance, or organization's commitment to participatory representation and transparency; (3) the nature of service an organization provides; (4) an NGOs' collaboration with other NGOs and the government; and (5) donor risk tolerance. The article's analysis contributes to our understanding of the varied, and often overlooked, roles of service providing NGOs, advancing the literature on NGO‐state relations, NGO‐donor relations, and democracy promotion.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:padxxx:v:43:y:2023:i:1:p:80-91
    DOI: 10.1002/pad.1985
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/pad.1985
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/pad.1985?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. E. A. Brett, 2003. "Participation and accountability in development management," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(2), pages 1-29.
    2. Kees Biekart & Asef Bayat, 2013. "The Arab Spring and its Surprises," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 44(3), pages 587-601, May.
    3. Islah Jad, 2007. "NGOs: between buzzwords and social movements," Development in Practice, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(4-5), pages 622-629.
    4. Hadenius, Axel & Uggla, Fredrik, 1996. "Making civil society work, promoting democratic development: What can states and donors do?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(10), pages 1621-1639, October.
    5. 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.
    6. Ghazala Mansuri & Vijayendra Rao, 2013. "Localizing Development : Does Participation Work?," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 11859, April.
    7. Michener, Victoria J., 1998. "The participatory approach: Contradiction and co-option in Burkina Faso," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 26(12), pages 2105-2118, December.
    8. Stiles, Kendall, 2002. "International Support for NGOs in Bangladesh: Some Unintended Consequences," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 835-846, May.
    9. 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.
    10. Balboa, Cristina M., 2014. "How Successful Transnational Non-governmental Organizations Set Themselves up for Failure on the Ground," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 273-287.
    11. Bratton, Michael, 1989. "The politics of government-NGO relations in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 569-587, April.
    12. 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.
    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. Daniel-Rareș Obadă & Dan-Cristian Dabija & Veronica Câmpian, 2024. "Predictors of social media users’ intention to donate online towards international NGOs in the fake news era," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Daniel Hummel & Bevaola Kusumasari, 2024. "Power dynamics and resource dependence: NGO‐government collaboration in Yogyakarta, Indonesia," Public Administration & Development, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 44(1), pages 32-42, February.
    3. Moosa Elayah & Hasan Al‐Awami & Wjdan Almatari & Khaldoun AbouAssi, 2024. "NGOs' least‐played role: Bridging between a divided public administration: The case of Yemen," Public Administration & Development, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 44(2), pages 91-104, May.
    4. Walton, Oliver & Aslam, Wali, 2024. "Challenging and reinforcing the status quo: Services, civil society and conflict in the MENA region," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).

    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. Deribe Assefa Aga & N. Noorderhaven & B. Vallejo, 2018. "Project beneficiary participation and behavioural intentions promoting project sustainability: The mediating role of psychological ownership," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 36(5), pages 527-546, September.
    5. Brass, Jennifer N., 2012. "Why Do NGOs Go Where They Go? Evidence from Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 387-401.
    6. 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.
    7. World Bank Group, 2014. "Strategic Framework for Mainstreaming Citizen Engagement in World Bank Group Operations," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 21113, April.
    8. Cook, Nathan J. & Wright, Glenn D. & Andersson, Krister P., 2017. "Local Politics of Forest Governance: Why NGO Support Can Reduce Local Government Responsiveness," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 203-214.
    9. Arshed Hossain Bhatti, 2000. "Matching Intentions with Divergent Agendas: Interplay of the State, International Donors, and the Civil Voluntary Initiatives in Pakistan," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 39(4), pages 1031-1053.
    10. Michael W. Kpessa, 2011. "The Politics of Public Policy in Ghana," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 27(1), pages 29-56, March.
    11. Aga, Deribe Assefa, 2016. "Factors affecting the success of development projects : A behavioral perspective," Other publications TiSEM 867ae95e-d53d-4a68-ad46-6, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    12. 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.
    13. 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.
    14. John‐Michael Davis & Yaakov Garb, 2019. "Participatory shaping of community futures in e‐waste processing hubs: Complexity, conflict and stewarded convergence in a Palestinian context," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 37(1), pages 67-89, January.
    15. 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.
    16. Gallemore, Caleb & Jespersen, Kristjan, 2016. "Transnational Markets for Sustainable Development Governance: The Case of REDD+," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 79-94.
    17. Vakil, Anna C., 1997. "Confronting the classification problem: Toward a taxonomy of NGOs," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(12), pages 2057-2070, December.
    18. Wiktorowicz, Quintan, 2002. "The Political Limits to Nongovernmental Organizations in Jordan," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 77-93, January.
    19. Draper, Alizon Katharine & Hewitt, Gillian & Rifkin, Susan, 2010. "Chasing the dragon: Developing indicators for the assessment of community participation in health programmes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(6), pages 1102-1109, September.
    20. Rachel S. Robinson & Jennifer N. Brass & Andrew Shermeyer & Nichole Grossman, 2024. "Reported effects of non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) in health and education service provision: The role of NGO –government relations and other factors," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 42(1), January.

    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:padxxx:v:43:y:2023:i:1:p:80-91. 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://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0271-2075 .

    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.