NGO involvement in international governance and policy : sources of legitimacy / by Anton Vedder ... [and others].

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Vedder, Anton.

Series:

Nijhoff law specials ; 72.

Nijhoff law specials ; v. 72

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Non-governmental organizations.

International organization.

Social advocacy.

Social justice.

Physical Description:

xi, 234 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2007.

Summary:

Internationally operating nongovernmental organisations, NGOs, are increasingly involved in international politics and policy making. In many respects their involvement resembles activities and policies that, until recently, were typical of traditional national authorities. This book is about the reasons for which NGOs can and the reasons for which NGOs cannot be considered as rightful participants in international governance. It tries to deliver rationally defensible starting points for the discussion and the assessment of claims for the legitimacy of their organizations and activities. The book focuses on the question: What conditions must ideally be met for an organization to be called truthfully legitimate, be it or be it not as a matter of fact perceived as legitimate by the public? This does not mean that empirically descriptive questions are left aside. Practical feasibility is important even to a thoroughly normative conception of legitimacy. For that reason and for heuristic purposes, large parts of this book are dedicated to the ways in which NGOs and stakeholders perceive NGO legitimacy.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Questioning the legitimacy of non-governmental organizations / Anton Vedder 1

2 NGOs 2

3 Legitimacy 6

4 Reasons for NGO involvement 10

5 NGO legitimacy questioned 12

6 Towards a concept of NGO legitimacy 14

7 Advantages and limitations of the approach of this book 16

Chapter 2 Perceptions of the legitimacy of international NGOs / Vivien Collingwood, Louis Logister 21

1.1 Main questions and objective 21

1.2 Selection of NGOs 23

1.3 Autumn 2004-spring 2005: Contacting and interviewing NGOs and stakeholders 24

1.4 The implications and limitations of the method 25

2 Issues arising from the interviews with NGOs 27

2.1 Is legitimacy a pressing concern? 27

2.2 Why is there a debate about the legitimacy of NGOs? 28

2.3 Sources of NGO legitimacy 30

2.4 Challenges for the future 49

3 Illustration: Stakeholders' views 52

Chapter 3 Internet activities of NGOs and legitimacy / Anke van Gorp 59

2 Selection of Internet NGOs 60

2.1 Website selection 62

2.2 Selected websites 64

3 Method of website analysis 66

3.1 NGO website activities 69

3.1.2 Interaction 72

3.1.3 Mobilization 73

3.1.4 ICT-related activities 74

3.2 Legitimacy and NGO websites 75

3.2.1 Regulatory dimension 75

3.2.2 Social dimension 77

3.2.3 Moral dimension 79

4 Results 81

4.1 NGO website activities 82

4.1.2 Interaction 89

4.1.3 Mobilization 91

4.1.4 ICT-related activities 92

4.1.5 Conclusions about NGO website activities 93

4.2 Legitimacy and NGO websites 94

4.2.1 Regulatory aspect 94

4.2.2 Social aspects 96

4.2.3 Moral aspects 97

4.2.4 Performance 99

4.2.5 Conclusions about NGO websites and legitimacy 101

6 Some specific normative legitimacy issues 104

6.1 Reliability of information on NGO websites 104

6.2 Interaction using the Internet 109

Chapter 4 A step beyond: Technologically enhanced interactivity and legitimacy / Corien Prins 111

2 Interactive digital tools 113

2.2 Games and digital simulation 117

2.3 Recommender systems 118

3 Implications for NGO legitimacy 121

3.2 Legitimizing effects or digital tools 122

3.3 Legitimate use of digital tools 127

Chapter 5 Regulatory legitimacy of the role of NGOs in global governance: Legal status and accreditation / Peter van den Bossche 135

2 Rules on the legal status of NGOs 137

2.1 United Nations 138

2.2 UNCTAD 141

2.3 UNEP 144

2.4 WHO 146

2.5 ILO 148

2.6 World Bank 150

2.7 IMF 151

2.8 WTO 152

2.9 Concluding remarks on the legal status of NGOs 154

3 Rules on the accreditation of NGOs 155

3.1 United Nations 156

3.2 UNCTAD 160

3.4 UNEP 162

3.5 WHO 163

3.6 ILO 166

3.7 World Bank 168

3.8 IMF 169

3.9 WTO 170

3.10 Concluding remarks on the rules on the accreditation of NGOs 171

Chapter 6 What makes an NGO 'legitimate' in the eyes of states? / Menno T. Kamminga 175

2 Domestic legal personality 177

3 European Convention on Human Rights 178

4 European Convention on the Recognition of the Legal Personality of NGOs 179

5 Fundamental Principles on the Status of NGOs in Europe 179

6 Implementation of the Fundamental Principles 182

7 Consultative or similar status 183

8 United Nations 184

9 Withdrawal and suspension of UN consultative status 187

10 Council of Europe 188

11 A complementary approach: Self-regulation by NGOs 190

12 Codes of conduct 190

12 Coalitionbuilding 191

Chapter 7 Towards a defensible conceptualization of the legitimacy of NGOs / Anton Vedder 197

2 Normative versus empirical or legal conceptions of legitimacy 198

3 Reconsidering the three legitimacy dimensions 205

4 The specific character of legitimacy as a criterion 207

5 The legitimacy of NGOs and the legitimacy of the global order 208.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [215]-229) and index.

ISBN:

9789004158467

9004158464

OCLC:

173640856