View article

NGOs, transnational or local, are institutionally less formal than both governments and businesses. Their influence comes from the role they play in our civil society in the space between these actors. They claim legitimacy from not being “bought” or corrupted by interests as is alleged to be the case on the government side and by the profit motive on the businesses side. They claim legitimacy from the virtue of their cause—whether it be child labor, human rights, climate, or numerous other issues. Yet do these virtues produce efficacy? How do we evaluate NGOs’ influence and effectiveness? To what degree do they attain their goals? Do they operate outside the political sphere, as substitutes for the failure of governments and businesses, or is their impact made through the political sphere and, if so, how? If we are concerned by the weak accountability of governments and businesses on these matters of value, to …