NGOs, Civil Society, and the Public Sphere

Nongovernmental organizations act on behalf of citizens in politics and society. Yet many question their legitimacy and ask who they speak for. This book investigates how NGOs can become stronger advocates for citizens and better representatives of their interests. Sabine Lang analyzes the choices that NGOs face in their work for policy change between working in institutional settings and practising public advocacy that incorporates constituents' voices. Whereas most books on NGOs focus on policy effectiveness, using approaches that treat accountability largely as a matter of internal performance measurements, Lang instead argues that it is ultimately several public accountabilities that inform NGO legitimacy. The case studies in this book use empirical research from the European Union, the United States and Germany to point to governments' role in redefining the conditions for NGOs' public advocacy.

1. David or Goliath? Situating NGOs in politics; 2. Civil society as a public sphere; 3. The NGOization of civil society; 4. Limits to NGO advocacy in the public sphere; 5. Urban development advocacy in the United States and Germany; 6. Transnational women's NGO networks in the European Union; 7. NGOs navigating inclusion in governance and public accountabilities; Appendix A. Interviews for Chapter 5; Appendix B. Interviews for Chapter 6; Appendix C. Website analysis for Chapter 6; Appendix D. Issue crawler figures for Chapter 6.