Devolving responsibilities: A framework for analysing NGOS and services

Third World Quarterly

Volumn 18, Issue 3, 1997, Pages 443-456

  Gordenker, Leon ^a   Weiss, Thomas G ^b  

^a Box 1983 ^*  (United States)

^b BROWN UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0142219712     PISSN: 01436597     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/01436599714803     Document Type: Article

References (26)

1. Leon Gordenker & Thomas G Weiss, 'Pluralizing global governance: analytical approaches and dimensions' and 'NGO participation in the international policy process', in Thomas G Weiss & Leon Gordenker (eds), NGOS, the UN, and Global Governance, Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1996, pp 17-47, 209-221.
2. See Felice D Gaer, 'Reality check: human rights NGOS confront governments at the UN', pp 51-66; Andrew S Natsios, 'NGOS and the UN system in complex humanitarian emergencies', pp 67-82; Ken Conca, 'Greening the UN: environmental organizations and the UN system', pp 103-119; Christer Jönsson & Peter Söderholm, 'IGO-NGO relations and HIV/AIDS: innovation or stalemate?', pp 121-138; and Martha Alter Chen, 'Engendering world conferences: the international women's movement and the UN', pp 139-155, all in Weiss & Gordenker, NGOS, the UN and Global Governance.
3. See Felice D Gaer, 'Reality check: human rights NGOS confront governments at the UN', pp 51-66; Andrew S Natsios, 'NGOS and the UN system in complex humanitarian emergencies', pp 67-82; Ken Conca, 'Greening the UN: environmental organizations and the UN system', pp 103-119; Christer Jönsson & Peter Söderholm, 'IGO-NGO relations and HIV/AIDS: innovation or stalemate?', pp 121-138; and Martha Alter Chen, 'Engendering world conferences: the international women's movement and the UN', pp 139-155, all in Weiss & Gordenker, NGOS, the UN and Global Governance.
4. See Felice D Gaer, 'Reality check: human rights NGOS confront governments at the UN', pp 51-66; Andrew S Natsios, 'NGOS and the UN system in complex humanitarian emergencies', pp 67-82; Ken Conca, 'Greening the UN: environmental organizations and the UN system', pp 103-119; Christer Jönsson & Peter Söderholm, 'IGO-NGO relations and HIV/AIDS: innovation or stalemate?', pp 121-138; and Martha Alter Chen, 'Engendering world conferences: the international women's movement and the UN', pp 139-155, all in Weiss & Gordenker, NGOS, the UN and Global Governance.
5. See Felice D Gaer, 'Reality check: human rights NGOS confront governments at the UN', pp 51-66; Andrew S Natsios, 'NGOS and the UN system in complex humanitarian emergencies', pp 67-82; Ken Conca, 'Greening the UN: environmental organizations and the UN system', pp 103-119; Christer Jönsson & Peter Söderholm, 'IGO-NGO relations and HIV/AIDS: innovation or stalemate?', pp 121-138; and Martha Alter Chen, 'Engendering world conferences: the international women's movement and the UN', pp 139-155, all in Weiss & Gordenker, NGOS, the UN and Global Governance.
6. See Felice D Gaer, 'Reality check: human rights NGOS confront governments at the UN', pp 51-66; Andrew S Natsios, 'NGOS and the UN system in complex humanitarian emergencies', pp 67-82; Ken Conca, 'Greening the UN: environmental organizations and the UN system', pp 103-119; Christer Jönsson & Peter Söderholm, 'IGO-NGO relations and HIV/AIDS: innovation or stalemate?', pp 121-138; and Martha Alter Chen, 'Engendering world conferences: the international women's movement and the UN', pp 139-155, all in Weiss & Gordenker, NGOS, the UN and Global Governance.
7. This term is in quotation marks because it means the provision of public goods financed with public resources but carried out by private organisations; this should be distinguished from the enchantment with the notion of eliminating public services altogether. For a discussion, see Steven R Smith & Michael Lipsky, Non-Profits for Hire: The Welfare State in the Age of Contracting, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993; and Lester Salamon & Helmut Anheier, The Emerging Sector: An Overview, Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies, 1994.
8. This term is in quotation marks because it means the provision of public goods financed with public resources but carried out by private organisations; this should be distinguished from the enchantment with the notion of eliminating public services altogether. For a discussion, see Steven R Smith & Michael Lipsky, Non-Profits for Hire: The Welfare State in the Age of Contracting, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993; and Lester Salamon & Helmut Anheier, The Emerging Sector: An Overview, Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies, 1994.
9. This phrase refers to the mutually agreed devolution of obligations from an intergovernmental body to an NGO. It may take the form of a specific, legally binding contract or may result from an informal agreement. The latter is sometimes only tacit but nevertheless real. Such devolution usually involves quite specific tasks and in principle excludes the duty of making authoritative social decisions.
10. For further discussion, see Weiss & Gordenker, 'Pluralizing global governance', pp 21-23.
11. For an annotated bibliography, see Weiss & Gordenker, NGOS, the UN and Global Governance, pp 227-240.
12. See Peter Sollis, 'Partners in development? The state, NGOS, and the UN in Central America', in Weiss & Gordenker, NGOS, the UN and Global Governance, pp 189-206; and Paul Nelson, The World Bank and Non-Governmental Organizations, New York, St Martin's Press, 1995, especially chs 4-6.
13. See Peter Sollis, 'Partners in development? The state, NGOS, and the UN in Central America', in Weiss & Gordenker, NGOS, the UN and Global Governance, pp 189-206; and Paul Nelson, The World Bank and Non-Governmental Organizations, New York, St Martin's Press, 1995, especially chs 4-6.
14. David Korten, Getting to the 21st Century: Voluntary Action and the Global Agenda, West Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press, 1990, especially pp 102-105.
15. See Nelson, The World Bank, pp 71-74 for the example of the World Bank.
16. For example, see Peter Willetts (ed), The Conscience of the World: The Influence of Non-Governmental Organizations in the UN System, London: Hurst, 1996.
17. See Peter Uvin, 'Scaling up the grassroots and scaling down the summit: the relations between Third World NGOS and the UN', in Weiss & Gordenker, NGOS, the UN and Global Governance, pp 159-176.
18. See Ian Smillie, The Alms Bazaar: Altruism Under Fire - Non-profit Organizations and International Development, London: IT Publications, 1995.
19. See Antonio Donini, 'The bureaucracy and the free spirits: stagnation and innovation in the relationship between the UN and NGOS', in Weiss and Gordenker, NGOS, the UN and Global Governance, pp 83-101.
20. See a series of essays in David Hulme & Michael Edwards (eds), Too Close for Comfort? NGOS, States and Donors, West Hartford, CT: Kumarian, forthcoming.
21. See S Neil MacFarlane & Thomas G Weiss, 'Regional organizations and regional security', Security Studies, Vol 2, No 1, 1992, pp 6-37; and Jarat Chopra & Thomas G Weiss, 'Prospects for containing conflict in the former Second World', Security Studies, Vol 4, No 3, 1995, pp 552-583.
22. See S Neil MacFarlane & Thomas G Weiss, 'Regional organizations and regional security', Security Studies, Vol 2, No 1, 1992, pp 6-37; and Jarat Chopra & Thomas G Weiss, 'Prospects for containing conflict in the former Second World', Security Studies, Vol 4, No 3, 1995, pp 552-583.
23. See Michael Edwards & David Hulme (eds), Beyond the Magic Bullet: NGO Performance and Accountability in the Post-Cold War World, West Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press, 1996.
24. See Antonio Donini, 'Surfing on the crest of the wave until it crashes: intervention in the South', draft forthcoming . This theme is also present in his The Policies of Mercy: UN Coordination in Afghanistan, Mozambique, and Rwanda, Occasional Paper #22, Providence, RI: Watson Institute, 1996.
25. See Antonio Donini, 'Surfing on the crest of the wave until it crashes: intervention in the South', draft forthcoming . This theme is also present in his The Policies of Mercy: UN Coordination in Afghanistan, Mozambique, and Rwanda, Occasional Paper #22, Providence, RI: Watson Institute, 1996.
26. See Cyril Ritchie, 'Coordinate, cooperate, harmonise? NGO policy and operational coalitions', in Weiss and Gordenker, NGOS, the UN and Global Governance, pp 177-188.