Cultivating Christian civil society: fundamentalist Christianity, politics and governance in Papua New Guinea

Abstract

Governments and international development agencies worldwide have begun increasingly to restructure their programs towards issues of governance. The Australian aid budget, for example, increased support for governance programs from $160 million in 1996–97 to an estimated $885 million in 2005–06 (AusAID 2006a: 3). In the past, governance strategies have concentrated either on reform of the state bureaucracy or on the empowerment of civil society organisations. More recently, the Australian aid program has been attempting to combine these two strategies in order to enable government and civil society to respond to each other (AusAID 2006b: 1). This new approach entails, firstly, increasing support for civil society organisations in delivering services and, secondly, reforming government to enable it to fulfil its obligations. By strengthening the institutions of civil society and the state, and the relations between them, the strategy aims to contribute to social and political stability and to efficient resource allocation (AusAID 2006b: 2). As part of the effort to strengthen civil society, programs to support non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and faith-based organisations (FBOs) have been initiated. Accordingly, strengthening civil society has become a key facet of the Australian Government’s approach to governance in Papua New Guinea (AusAID 2006c: 2).