Redefining the Public/private Mix: NGOs and the Emergency Social Investment Fund in Ecuador

Abstract

Over the past decade, the World Bank has pressed its borrowers to include NGOs in ‘partnerships’ that range from shared design and implementation of projects, to substantive negotiation over development policy. What explains the domestic political outcome of these transnational partnership efforts? This chapter examines the case of the negotiation over Ecuador's Social Investment Fund to include substantial NGO participation and finds that these new ‘partnerships’ between NGOs and the state failed in their first iteration. Presidential concerns over patronage blocked the construction of new working relations between NGOs and the state. Yet, the initial failure was followed by reflection and renewed collaboration. Political change resulted from a process of socialization around new sets of norms regarding civil society's participation in social policy as they became embedded in new, often informal, institutions. The impact of this socialization on democracy in Ecuador is still an open question.

Understanding Mexican NGOs: Goals, Strategies, and the Local Context

“…As a result, government implementation of austerity measures in response to the external demands of structural adjustment policies had an impact on mobilization and community organizing in new and distinct ways (Auyero 2001;Shefner 2008). In this context, NGO goals increasingly focused on service provision as governments withdrew and shifted responsibility to the private sector because they were either unable or unwilling to continue their role in service provision (Arellano-López and Petras 1994;Bebbington and Thiele 1993;Broadhead 1987;Segarra 1997;Silliman 1999). Although NGOs always provided services to those not reached by the formal market, under neoliberal economic policies they became the "preferred channel for service provision in deliberate substitution for the state" (Edwards and Hulme 1996, p. 2).…”

“…Their growth in numbers and influence at the local, national, and international levels has encouraged them to act as advocates for rights and social justice, create competition for governments and political parties, and encourage participation and activism by citizens (Bebbington and Thiele 1993;Hirsch 2003;Lehmann and Bebbington 1998;Meyer 1999;Segarra 1997). In this way, the organizations represent an alternative to traditional forms of political power by disputing the boundaries of what should be included in the political arena (Jelin 1994;Meyer 1999;Sternbach et al 1992).…”

Civil Society Organizations, Advocacy, and Policy Making in Latin American Democracies

“…Armony (2004) Chapter 7 1. Piester (1997) and Segarra (1997) are more generous toward Latin American NGOs, suggesting that they give voice to the needs and interests of popular sectors in venues that have traditionally provided little access to such groups; analysts should therefore examine these processes instead of requiring direct ties to the grassroots as proof that NGOs are representative. 2.…”