Nongovernmental Organizations

Civil Society Associations

Civil society, also referred to as the third sector or the nonprofit sector, is used to broadly describe all aspects of society that extend beyond the realm of the public sector and the private sector. Although the term NGO is relatively recent, associations among like-minded individuals have been part of ancient and modern history. When Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859) first visited the United States in the first third of the nineteenth century, he was impressed that Americans were forever forming associations.

When individuals or groups within civil society work together to advance a common set of interests, and these interests become a significant force in shaping the direction of society, social movements emerge. Social movements are broad societal initiatives organized around a particular issue, trend, or priority. Modern examples include the environmental movement and the feminist movement. When civil society groups band together to form organized relationships, people today often call the emergent entities NGOs.

NGO is a broad term that somewhat loosely refers to all organizations that are neither an official part of government (at any level), nor private, for-profit enterprises. Within the NGO category, however, are many different types, characteristics, and purposes.

NGOs: Definitions and Classifications

Scholars sometimes separate club and social purpose NGOs. Those that arise from social movements are social purpose NGOs. The stakeholders in these are individuals who contribute time or resources to the organization; NGO staff, management, and board members who direct and monitor the organization's activities; and donors—that is, individuals, private foundations, governments, and multilateral institutions that provide funding support. Social purpose NGOs are accountable primarily to the clients they serve, such as environmental, human rights, poverty relief, and health groups.

Club NGOs are membership associations designed primarily to provide a benefit to their members, generally because of pooling interests. Examples of club NGOs are unions, business associations, and church groups. In most of the contemporary literature on NGOs, the focus is on those who operate within the social purpose realm.

The United Nations (UN) Web site describes an NGO as “any non-profit, citizens' group which is organized on a local, national, or international level. Taskoriented and driven by people with a common interest, NGOs perform a variety of services and humanitarian functions, bring citizens' concerns to governments, monitor policies and encourage political participation at the community level. They provide analysis and expertise, serve as early warning mechanisms, and help monitor and implement international agreements” (2006: para. 1). Hildy Teegen and colleagues provide a more succinct definition. They describe social purpose NGOs as “private, not-for-profit organizations that aim to serve particular societal interests by focusing advocacy and/or operational efforts on social, political and economic goals, including equity, education, health, environmental protection and human rights” (2004: 466). Broadly speaking, NGOs contribute to codes of conduct, provide training, offer resource access and knowledge concerning the delivery of goods and services, share best practices, and create and support institutional settings that promote social welfare.

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