Network Of Non-governmental Organizations Research Articles

NGOs and Global Business Regulation of Transnational Alcohol and Ultra-Processed Food Industries

Abstract The intensification of efforts by state and nonstate actors to address issues affecting global health has produced a patchwork of transnational regulatory governance. Within this field, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are expected to perform authoritative roles in holding business actors to account and enhance the democratic legitimacy of institutions via their participation in governance processes. While there exists a large body of conceptual and empirical research on global business regulation and private authority, we surprisingly know little about the governance functions of NGOs engaged in influencing the practices of corporations that produce health-harming commodities. This knowledge gap is especially pronounced in the issue area of noncommunicable diseases. This article begins to address this gap by mapping the networks of NGOs that engage in regulatory activities (rule-setting, monitoring, and enforcement) related to the (ultra)processed food and alcohol industries. We identify the networks of NGOs involved in global policy making across health, regulatory standards, and multistakeholder initiatives using nonstate actor submissions to consultations held by World Health Organization, UN Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), and the UN Global Compact. This paper examines NGO governance functions and their patterns of engagement and participation across institutional spheres. Overall, the article makes a twofold contribution to existing debates. First, we identify the governance functions through which NGOs attempt to hold corporations to account, contrasting their “watchdog” function with other governance functions. Second, we examine the representation of NGOs, highlighting asymmetries in participation of NGOs in the Global North and South.

NGO scientific collaboration networks for marine conservation in the southern cone: A case study

In recent decades, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have become more involved in conservation science, playing a key role in scientific research. Despite its importance, the dynamics of scientific networks among these organizations have not been widely studied. This paper examined scientific collaboration network of NGOs in South America, based on a systematic bibliographic publications survey with member organizations of the Forum for the Conservation of the Patagonian Sea and areas of influence (FCPS). We describe the countries, research funds, types of institutions, topics covered, and where these studies were conducted. Using a network perspective, we analyzed the structure of scientific collaborations, identifying relevant measures of the social capital network. The results show that this network is growing and expanding over time, with greater participation of institutions and research funds from the north-hemisphere countries, and composed mainly of universities, research institutes, NGOs, and government agencies. Most studies address animal function and behavior, impacts of human activities, and management along with marine area conservation, located mostly in Argentina. Northern hemisphere organizations and forum´s international NGOs, are the central actors in the scientific networks, working closely with domestic research institutes, forum NGOs, and universities from Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. We found that participation in research funds, time frame in the network, and physical presence of forum organizations are the strongest predictors of social capital. Our results also offer new insights into the role of ENGOs in supporting, scientific knowledge for marine conservation policy options, especially in the countries of the Southern Hemisphere.

Is Organizational Evaluation Competency Framework Contextually Relevant for Local NGO Strategy Measurement? Evidence from Uganda

Despite the assumed added value of localization, what remains unclear is the method and framework within which local non-governmental organization (NGO) strategies are measured. Owing to considerable difference between donor demands and local stakeholder’s requirements, local NGO evaluation landscape in many developing countries including Uganda is characterized by disrupted systematic application of evaluation practices and standards. While there are considerable congregation towards ensuring standard evaluation, various evaluation models and frameworks; the proliferation of different donor donors’ framework is increasingly making strategy evaluation as subject of varied imagination against localized norms and standards. This study sought to validate the contextual relevance of organizational evaluation competency (OEC) framework as a standard process upon which local NGOs could meaningfully be seen to contribute to the realization of national development plan and aspirations. In-depth key informant interviews were conducted with 16 respondents drawn from NGO executives, NGO managers, board members, consultants, and academicians from a wider spectrum of specializations. Findings revealed that the OEC framework is contextually relevant for strategy evaluation. Specifically, the findings revealed that matured NGOs strategies were positively impacted by utilization OEC framework as they consistently apply it compared to emerging new local NGO. The study highlight higher potentials in wider application of OEC framework by both matured and emerging NGOs. This implies policy engagement on capacity strengthening must urgently prioritize NGO network support towards a strengthened evaluation technical expertise and steering. Keywords: Localization, Strategy, Organizational evaluation competency framework, NGOs.

Facilitators of improving the function of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Iran's health system.

Iranian health nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) could play a variety of roles at many levels of Iran's health system, but their participation in the health sector is far from ideal. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify practical solutions for increasing the role and function of NGOs in the Iranian health system. This qualitative study was conducted between 2020 and 2021 in Tehran, Iran. The data for this study were gathered through 32 in-depth semi-structured interviews with 11 managers from the Ministry of Health as well as from Iran and Tehran universities of medical sciences and 21 Chief executive officers and directors of health NGOs. Data were analyzed by the content analysis approach using the MAXQDA 10 software. The facilitators for expanding the function and roles of NGOs in Iran's health system are classified into two groups of legal and structural mechanisms. "The existence of mandatory laws," "government support for NGOs," "the formulation of standard strategic planning and goals," "the establishment of a database and a network of NGOs," and "the establishment of independent organizational units as the connectors and coordinators of NGOs' affairs in the public sector" are the critical facilitators for the improvement of NGOs' roles in Iran's health system. According to the findings of this study, only limited measures and efforts have been made to improve NGOs' roles and participation in the Iranian health system; at the same time, NGOs' participation in the health sector is far from ideal. Iranian health NGOs are at the beginning of this route, and they would inevitably require various legislative and structural mechanisms to succeed.

Iranian nongovernmental organizations' initiatives in COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND:With the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus crisis worldwide, including Iran, the need for corona prevention and treatment has become a national priority. With many businesses closed in the wake of COVID-19 and job losses and declining incomes, vulnerable individuals' and families' access to the minimum wage and healthcare facilities is falling, and their health is exposed to a great risk. In Iran, a significant number of vulnerable groups are supported by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). This study is designed to understand the performance of NGOs after the onset of the COVID-19 crisis.MATERIALS AND METHODS:This study was carried out based on qualitative research between June and September 2020 in Tehran. This study was conducted using individual interviews with 33 managers and experts of 24 active NGOs providing services to vulnerable groups and a member of an NGO network. Data were analyzed using content analysis.RESULTS:Two main themes of service initiatives were extracted: (a) service initiatives to protect the target population against COVID-19 infection and its aftermath and (b) management initiatives to retain staff, finance, and adapt the organization to crisis situations. Service initiatives included five categories of health service initiatives, livelihood, employment, education, and leisure initiatives, while organizational management initiatives include human resource management, financial management, and communication with organizations.CONCLUSION:The COVID-19 breadth and its special features have set it apart from other crises and have led NGOs to work hard on several fronts to care for the most vulnerable people against the epidemic and its consequences and maintain the performance of their organizations. The unique role of cyberspace has made it one of the definitive pillars of the activities of NGOs, not only during the epidemic but also after its end.

Mechanisms for Stabilizing Crisis Situations in Visegrad Europe

In the article, the authors, pointing out the main challenges faced by the Central European countries in the last two years, analyze the measures taken by the governments of the Visegrad countries ‒ individually and jointly ‒ in an effort to overcome the negative consequences of crisis situations and to give a new impetus to the development of societies in social, political and economic spheres. The pandemic of 2020/2021 in a certain sense can be considered as a milestone measuring the effectiveness of political and economic systems established over three decades in these countries. The authors have chosen for this publication only some, but decisive measures, such as internal political stabilization, social, as well as economic devices to help the population in a pandemic. Analyzing the main “alarming points” of Central European countries, the authors come to the conclusion that the democratic parliamentary system established in these countries over the years of reforms, based on a network of non-governmental organizations, plays a significant positive role in overcoming them; the manifestation of independence in taking decisions affecting the interests of the nation despite delays or counter-measures of Brussels; taking into account the peculiarities of national and regional development in other areas.

Communities and Brokers: How the Transnational Advocacy Network Simultaneously Provides Social Power and Exacerbates Global Inequalities

Abstract Transnational advocacy networks (TANs) are the most common example of networks in international relations. Despite their familiarity, we know little about how advocacy networks of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are structured. Drawing on the cross-disciplinary concepts of emergent communities and distinct brokerage roles, we argue that the network may reinforce power disparities and inequalities at the very same time that it provides social power. TANs are similar to emergent communities of practice, with some organizations acting as various types of brokers within and between communities. Preexisting resources are more likely to lead global North organizations to occupy brokerage roles that provide additional agenda-setting and resource-allocating power. We build a dataset of the 3,903 NGOs connected through 1.3 million ties occurring through meetings and conferences for NGOs put on or coordinated by the United Nations. Using community detection methods, we identify four distinct communities in the overall NGO network, with differences in distributions of brokerage roles across communities. Examining the communities, brokerage role distributions, and preexisting power disparities can help us better understand the divergent findings in previous literature and conceptualize TANs.

\u201cThe devil is in the detail\u201d: geographical inequalities of femicides in Ecuador

BackgroundFemicide is a very important public health problem in Ecuador. Since regional and country-level femicide rates can obscure significant variations at the sub-national level, it is important to provide information at the lowest relevant level of disaggregation to be able to develop targeted preventive policies. The aim of this study was to assess the spatial distribution of the femicide rate and to examine its spatial clustering at the canton level in Ecuador in the period 2018–2019.MethodsData on cases were collected by a national network of non-governmental organizations. Two age-disaggregated analyses were done, one for the 15 to 24 years-olds and the other for the female population of 15 and older. Age-specific population data were obtained from the National Institute of Statistics for the study period. Standardized mortality ratios for mapping the mortality were calculated using hierarchical Bayesian models and spatial scan statistics were applied to identify local clusters. Thematic maps of age-specific femicide rates were also constructed.ResultsDuring the two-year period, 61 and 183 women were killed in the age ranges 15–24 and 15 years and older, respectively. The annual rate of femicides in Ecuador was 1.0 and 0.8 per 100,000 in the female population aged 15–24 and 15+, respectively, with substantial variations among cantons. The spatial analysis contributed to visualize high risk cantons, which were mainly located in a small area in the central part of the country (for those 15+) but especially in the Amazon region, for both of the studied age groups.ConclusionsThis study has shown the usefulness of applying spatial analysis to the problem of femicides in Ecuador. The study has revealed important variations among cantons but also a spatial clustering, mainly in the Amazon region of the country. The results should help policymakers to focus on current prevention programmes for violence against women into these high-risk areas. Continuous monitoring of femicides at low-level geographical areas is highly recommended.

Framing contests in global NGO networks: How controversies enable and challenge collaboration and action

AbstractIn multistakeholder sustainability initiatives, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) need not only to negotiate with actors from other sectors, but also with other NGOs. Taking a framing perspective, this study examines how NGOs engage in framing contests because of their collaborative attitude toward the private sector. Through an analysis of Oxfam's participation in the Shrimp Aquaculture Dialogues, the paper examines the interplay between NGOs that propose and oppose certification as a viable strategy for ensuring sustainability in the farmed shrimp sector. The results show that controversies among NGO groups related prognostic framing (i.e., regarding the proposed solution to a problem) are characterized by specific ontological and normative attributes. The paper offers NGOs strategies for dealing with such controversies and shows that, depending on the nature of the controversy, engaging in framing contests might enlarge or constrain the roles that an NGO is able to play in a multistakeholder setting, particularly, when it comes to preserving its independence while securing interdependence with others.

Why trust you? Security cooperation within humanitarian NGO networks.

Although the literature is increasingly concerned with cooperation among humanitarian non-governmental organisations (NGOs), we still lack studies that explain cooperation under conditions of competition. Drawing on 22 semi-structured interviews, this article argues that trust is the driving force behind security-related cooperation within networks of humanitarian NGOs. Which type of trust comes into play and how trust is built depends on the structure of a network. In small, stable networks, trust is typically based on experience, whereas shared identity is at the heart of trust in large, unstable networks. In the latter case, cooperation among humanitarian NGOs is exclusive and comparable to a form of club governance, because NGOs are kept out based on their identity-that is, if they adopt a different operational interpretation of the humanitarian principles.

Good local governance: the criteria

Local governance is generally derived from the power and capacity of local authorities to govern a territory in order to meet the needs of citizens. The general interest is consequently the strategic platform for local projects development. The art or way of governing is about how to implement a territorial development policy in consultation with the local actors involved. Local actors are required to master the processes and develop criteria for measuring good local governance. Associations, Citizens, State, Local Authorities, Networks of Associations and Non-governmental Organizations are all actors who play a very important role in local development. Good or bad local governance? What are the criteria for a good appreciation of local governance? The answer to these two questions requires a contextualization of the institutional system and its management. Good local governance uses behavioral values characterized by equity and social justice. An empirical study carried out in Agadir city on a representative sample of citizens shows the importance of the criteria of good local governance linked to the behavior of local actors.

Counter-terror and soft power: NGO claims to military and legal expertise and Israeli responses

ABSTRACTFor many years, the network of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) claiming a human rights agenda has consistently sought to delegitimise Israel’s counterterrorism strategy. This phenomenon was prominent during the 2008–2009 and 2014 Gaza wars, when these groups issued hundreds of statements condemning Israel, and in campaigns calling for UN commissions of inquiry (e.g. the Goldstone and Schabas/Davis investigations) into Israeli ‘war crimes’. NGO allegations were also the foundations of lawfare, including efforts to prosecute Israeli officials in the International Criminal Court and other venues, and for BDS campaigns against Israeli and Jewish targets. In this soft-power strategy, the perception of NGO officials as ‘security experts’ provides a major source of legitimacy, lending credence to their reports, despite the lack of credible fact-finding methodologies. Similarly, NGO legal analyses, based on problematic and aspirational interpretations, are accepted and echoed widely, without independent verification. In response, the IDF and Ministry of Defence first ignored and then sought to engage the NGOs in order to persuade them to accept Israeli perceptions and counterterror policies. When these responses failed, the emphasis shifted to countering NGO credibility in legal and diplomatic venues, which has also had limited impact to date.

Costing essential services package provided by a non-governmental organization network in Bangladesh.

The health profile of Bangladesh has improved remarkably, yet gaps in delivering quality health care remain. In response to the need for evidence to quantify resources for providing health services in Bangladesh, this study estimates unit costs of providing the essential services package (ESP) in the not-for-profit sector. This study used a stratified sampling approach to select 18 static clinics, which had fixed facilities, from 330 non-profit clinics under Smiling Sun network in Bangladesh. Costs were estimated from the providers' perspective, using both top-down and bottom-up methods, from July 2014 to June 2015. In total, there were 1115 observations (clients) for the 13 primary care services analysed. The estimated 2015 average costs per visit were: antenatal care ($7.03), postnatal care ($4.57), control of diarrheal diseases ($1.32), acute respiratory infection ($1.53), integrated management of child illness ($2.02), sexually transmitted infections ($4.70), reproductive tract infections ($3.56), tuberculosis ($41.65), limited curative care ($4.30), immunization ($2.23), family planning ($0.72), births by normal delivery ($29.45) and C-section ($114.83). Unit costs varied widely for each service, both between individual patients and among clinic level means. The coefficient of variation for the 13 services averaged 66%, implying potential inefficiencies. In addition, 32.9% of clients were not offered any lab test during the first antenatal visit. The unit cost of essential services differed by the type and location of clinics. Ultra clinics, on average, incurred 37% higher costs than vital (outpatient type) clinics, and urban clinics spent 40% more than rural clinics to deliver a unit of service. The study suggests that inefficiency and quality concerns exist in health service delivery in some facilities. Increasing the volume of clients through demand-side mechanisms and standardization of services would help address those concerns. Unit costs of services provide essential information for estimating resource needs for scaling up the ESPs.

Social Welfare System of Republic of Srpska in the Function of Developing a Non-Governmental Network of Support for Children with Disabilities

Children with disabilities represent a significant part of the population of users within Social welfare system in the Republic of Srpska. Number of children with a disability who are registered as users at the centers for social work, and therefore as users of social services, annually range around 3.5 thousand. Their status and support services are defined by the Law on Social Protection, which allows the non-governmental sector to provide services for children with disabilities. The network of non-governmental organizations and consumer associations concerned with providing social support to children with disabilities and their parents began to develop in the late 90s, when they started to form parents' associations in several municipalities. In the past period such associations were formed in almost all the communities in the Republic of Srpska. Their activities are very important for improving social protection in local communities. These associations work together at regional level, in the framework of the Association Persons with Mental disabilities (acronym - MINERALS). The effect of parents' associations is recognized through the development of partnerships with centers for social work on the realization of social protection measures for children with disabilities. Associations have developed new support services such as day care, speech therapy treatments, workshops, self-help groups and etc. Association improved the direct work with children, provide new ways of financing social protection and welfare (project finance), have contributed to the planning of services, developed the partnership model of cooperation, have contributed to the legal solutions; enhance the social sensitivity of the local community to the situation of children with disabilities. This paper presents the development of a network of parents associations of children with disabilities in the Republic of Srpska, legal merits of their work and partnership in the social welfare system, model of community work and the role of associations in the life of the local community. Paper also presents the results of research relating to the general characteristics of a network of associations, members of the association structure, and the types of services provided to the associations, methods of working with customers, quality of partnerships and ways of financing the association.

Social Networks and the Enforcement of International Law

Social Network Analysis has a growing influence on legal scholarship. By investigating social connections between individuals or institutions, hypotheses about their behavior can be raised and tested. One of the key debates in Social Network Analysis is whether interactions within the network can help improve the information held by its members (the "Bandwidth hypothesis") or do they instead corrupt the information held by the members by amplifying their biases (the "Echo hypothesis"). The paper argues that the network of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) which try to enforce the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on recalcitrant states processes information well and complies with the Bandwidth hypothesis. It draws on an earlier empirical study that used both quantitative and qualitative methods to show that NGOs focus most of their attention on severe violations and legally important cases. This study also showed that NGOs tend to focus on states that usually comply with international law rather than states that usually violate their international obligations. This finding has valuable implications for the understanding of reputational sanctions among states in the international arena.

Contesting Moral Capital in the Economy of Expectations of an Extractive Frontier

In Southeast Asia, actors in civil society have negotiated new social and economic realities at the conjuncture of intensifying governance and commodity production in frontier areas. As these spaces intersect, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and their allies have reflected on the legitimacy of their interventions in terms of how local farmers view contrasting benefits relative to the changing expectations and promises emerging at the nexus of governance and commodity production. This article explores how a long-standing NGO network on Palawan Island, the Philippines, has drawn on its moral capital and legitimacy in forging a grassroots consortium that has implemented the carbon governance mechanism, REDD+, in a changing rural economy of expectations—one that is contested and differentiated based on its offerings and aspirations. I argue that as the NGO consortium CODE REDD tried to reframe REDD+ as a means of supporting indigenous livelihoods and climate change mitigation, it has placed its integrity and leverage at risk, as other indigenous farmers have rejected the claims and promises of the NGO REDD+ platform. I focus on a case where the NGO consortium's efforts to reframe REDD+ in terms of indigenous, propoor discourse progresses well in some quarters, aligning with anti–oil palm social movements, but fails to meet the growing aspirations of former indigenous allies who question the consortium in favor of investing in oil palm on ancestral lands. I conclude by suggesting that as NGOs adjust their political objectives by adopting market-based governance, they could lose leverage in negotiating the impact of lucrative commodity booms.

Understanding the size and spread of Chinese NGO networks: capacity and board affiliations

In recent years, the amount of research on digital inter-organizational networks among Chinese non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has increased greatly. However, few studies have examined the offline networks of Chinese NGOs. To fill this gap, the present study investigates the size and spread of offline Chinese NGO networks. In particular, we examine two competing hypotheses: the influence of organizational capacity and the influence of board affiliations as guanxi on the size and spread of the ego-centric networks of NGOs. To test our hypotheses, we conducted surveys among 119 Chinese NGOs. The results of the ordinary least squares regression supported our guanxi hypothesis: the number of organizational affiliations that the members of a board of directors have was positively related to the size of Chinese NGO networks, controlling for geographic region, social issue area, age, and revenue of the NGOs. In addition, as guanxi, board affiliations influenced the spread of NGO networks via the size of NGO networks. This study contributes to the research on Chinese inter-organizational communication networks in general and to Chinese NGO offline networks, NGO capacity, and guanxi culture in particular.

The ‘Coalition of the Unlikely’ Driving the EU Regulatory Process of Non-Financial Reporting

ABSTRACTThe article investigates the driving forces that have been shaping the regulatory process of the EU directive on non-financial reporting (NFR). Drawing on a three-year empirical study, it argues that the latter was driven by a ‘coalition of the unlikely’, led by a growing section of investors, together with a network of non-governmental organizations and parts of European trade unions. Rather than a formal alliance, we are witnessing the emergence of an objective convergence of interests amongst the three groups of actors, aimed at limiting managers’ power and obtaining more corporate transparency and accountability. Deploying a political economy explanatory framework, the paper originally contributes to the existing literature on EU Corporate Social Responsibility policy, focused on the cleavage between business and civil society. The role of EU regulators (the ‘Barnier-effect’) in supporting mandatory NFR and the impact of the financial crisis, seen as catalysts for changes, are also taken into account. The paper concludes discussing some implications for policy-makers and research.

The Politics of Compassion: The Sichuan Earthquake and Civic Engagement in China by Bin Xu

Reviewed by: The Politics of Compassion: The Sichuan Earthquake and Civic Engagement in China by Bin Xu Mary Alice Haddad (bio) Bin Xu. The Politics of Compassion: The Sichuan Earthquake and Civic Engagement in China. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2017. xi, 237 pp. Paperback $25.95, isbn 978-1-5036-0336-3. The Politics of Compassion is a wonderfully detailed book that reveals the nuances of the civic response to the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan, which killed nearly 90,000 people and left about 5 million people homeless. The book discusses the earthquake and its aftermath, but its main purpose is to unpack the complexity of the civic and political response to the discovery that much of the damage and many of the deaths were not due to shifting geologic plates but rather a direct result of political graft and greed. Sadly, events that cause protesters to cry out, "Natural disasters are unavoidable; man-made catastrophes are despicable" (p. 121) are common. We made similar cries as abandoned elderly drowned in their beds New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and as helicopters flew over Fukushima in futile attempts to stop a nuclear meltdown. Residents and onlookers feel compassion for the victims and outrage at their governments. The Politics of Compassion does a masterful job telling the story of the Sichuan disaster and its aftermath in ways that draw readers into the specific details of a particular time and place while allowing us to see the broader political pattern as one that is repeated time and again in every corner of the planet. The Politics of Compassion is told as a play with four acts as it seeks to explain what it calls the "'politics of compassion': how political conditions shape expressions of moral sentiments through civic engagement" (p. 16). The introductory chapter offers up the details of the earthquake itself and the [End Page 314] immediate response. With maps, statistics, voices from the victims, and testimony from witnesses, it recounts how it felt for those who were there and the spectacle it presented for those who watched and listened from afar. "Tonight, there were dozens upon dozens of families going through this same grim ritual, their heads bowed in unspeakable pain as they set vigil over small lifeless forms" (p. 3). It describes the outpouring of volunteers (estimates ranged from 200,000 to 10 million) (p. 8), which led 2008 to be called the "'birth year' of civil society in China" (p. 13). The chapter also articulates the tension that lies at the heart of the book, a tension between two kinds of civic engagement: (1) harmless and warm volunteering that shows compassion and care for victims but ignores the underlying problems that lie at the root of their suffering, and (2)the "angry activism" that strives to hold political leaders accountable for their greed and poor decision-making and demands a lasting solution to the deeper problems in society that are the ultimate cause of the suffering (p. 15). Act One: Chaotic Response. The political context of the Sichuan earthquake was such that the state did not have sufficient capacity to deal with the magnitude of the disaster. As a result, the state needed civil society's participation, but it was concerned that unregulated giving and participation could lead to rampant fraud and might undermine the state's moral authority. This "consensus crisis" created a political opportunity for established organizations (NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and GONGOs (government-organized NGOs)) to expand and new groups to form. Xu offers a masterful portrait of "emergent NGO networks" that formed as preexisting groups of mobile private citizens, small organizations, and companies quickly organized to bring relief directly to victims. One of my favorite stories is how two members of the Shanghai Car Club, who usually met to enjoy friendly drives through the countryside on the weekends, stuffed their cars full of medicine and food, drove 2,000 km due west, met a random young man begging assistance at a gas station, delivered their supplies to a local hospital that was catastrophically low on supplies, and helped bring in a PLA military medical team to the town. They called their friends back in...

NGO Networks, the Diffusion and Adaptation of NGO Managerialism, and NGO Legitimacy in Latin America

Nongovernmental organization (NGO) networks have become key instruments used by NGOs in Latin America. Because these networks have important roles to play in advocating for the sector, earning public support, and improving the provision of public goods and services, understanding these networks is important to understanding the NGO sector more broadly. The article examines how NGO networks use collective texts to diffuse and adapt managerial practices. NGO networks use elements of managerialism and their adaptations to signal quality, secure recognition in social development, identify strengths and weaknesses of the sector, and define civil society in order to garner sector legitimacy. While looking at managerialism from a critical perspective, the article finds that understanding NGOs networks and the diffusion and adaption of NGO practices can further pinpoint effective sources of sector legitimacy and help to strengthen the sector’s role in social development.