Search

In the past 30 years, the number of NGOs in both industrialized and developing countries has grown dramatically. This paper examines how international political structures and norms have encouraged this growth in two possible ways by: (1) providing societal actors clear structural incentives to organize and (2) reshaping the domestic political conditions they face. First, the paper shows how changes in the international political opportunity structure in the past 30 years in the form of new international funding sources and expanded NGO access to intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) have both directly and indirectly supported NGO growth worldwide. Next, the paper explores the normative dimension of these changes and examines the ways in which IGOs and their programs emphasizing "people participation," "civil society" and good governance have also altered domestic political conditions and made them more favorable for NGOs. The paper concludes with some observations on the symbiotic nature of IGO-NGO relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]