NGOs, civil society and policy analysis: from mutual disinterest to reciprocal investment

Abstract

This chapter examines the role played by NGOs and civil society organizations in the development of policy analysis in France. Little attention has been devoted in the literature to systematically analyzing the evolving relationships between NGOs and state organizations across time and policy sectors. Drawing on examples from different policy domains, this chapter explores the role played by NGOs and civil society organizations in the development of policy analysis in three different ways. First, the chapter maps out who these groups are, in which policy field they operate, and how they evolved over time. Second, it examines the extent to which such organizations recently engaged in the development of policy analysis within the French context according to a classic distinction between policy insiders and policy outsiders, meaning those groups that (un)willingly oppose state organizations within policy-making. Finally, it considers the extent to which policy tools and instruments have shaped this recent turn through the opening of policy-making processes to both organized civil society organizations and a larger variety of less-structured groups. This is done across a large number of policy issues (e.g., culture, environment, women’s rights, anti-poverty, health, etc.)