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Considerable discussion has emerged in recent years concerning the evolution of civil society in Russia. Most authors and observers focus on the role of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in civil society, and optimista note the enormous growth in their numbers over the past decade as evidence that Russian civil society is flourishing in a post-Communist, democratic Russia. Authors have offered widely varying estimates of the total number of NGOs active in Russia today, ranging between 60,000 and 350,000.'However, we cannot look at numbers alone to gauge the success of civil society development. More important questions are, What are NGOs actually doing in Russia? and What is their role (actual or potential) in Russian democracy? What political and societal impact do NGOs have in Russia today? Do the recent developmental trends in the Russian NGO sector bode well for a civil society that bolsters and strengthens democratic institutions? In this article 1 consider those questions in relation to one segment of the Russian NGO sector: women's organizations. Women's NGOs are an important sector to observe in Russian civil society for severa] reasons. First, women's movements are widely considered to be an important part of independent civil societies. With the growth of women's movements around the world in the second half of the twentieth century, women's NGOs are a prominent example of the kinds of nongovernmental advocacy organizations that have blossomed in democratic regimes. Practical observers have frequently upheld them as examples of the success of civil society in new democracies, or at least as a key …