Today, MISEREOR's partners de facto adopt a wide range of practical attitudes toward state institutions.

Some, for instance, are very willing to cooperate with state institutions and participate in processes of dialogue and negotiation. On the other hand, situations also exist where the constellation is highly conflictual. On the one hand, cooperation with governmental institutions can enable NGOs to help shape policy, obtain greater participation in the implementation of governmental programmes, and mobilise funds. On the other hand, NGOs may as a result run the risk of becoming an extension of the arms of governments or – in extreme cases – of supporting corrupt governments. It is therefore crucial that these relations of cooperation be reflected on and evaluated thoroughly.

Conversely, it is not entirely unproblematic for parallel participatory structures to be established that then compete (also in a legal sense) with democratic institutions, which as a result they then weaken. Civil society participation must always take place in constructive dialogue with the representative parliamentary system. Within this framework, the systematic utilisation of legal scope for direct citizen participation (e.g. through participatory planning, monitoring or decision-making bodies) can boost the potential impacts of our development work. Having said that, the involvement of civil society organisations in community-based processes of negotiation and decision-making as equal and independent partners presupposes a relatively consolidated constellation of such civil society actors. Otherwise there is a risk that social movements may be weakened or demobilised by attempts to instrumentalise or co-opt them.

Consequently, civil society pressure and advocacy work by NGOs are often needed in order to broaden the scope for civil society participation, to influence and shape participatory procedures, and to propagate and legitimate new forms of participation. The advocacy role of NGOs that articulate the concerns of poor groups, thus acting on their behalf, remains large, however, and often we do not succeed in integrating grass roots groups into dialogue and advocacy activities, or in enabling those groups to develop their own lobbying capacities.

Contact

Dr. Georg Stoll
Claudio Moser