Religious Nongovernmental Organizations: An Exploratory Analysis

This paper represents the first systematic attempt at an analysis of religious nongovernmental organizations (RNGOs). Largely ignored as an organizational field, RNGOs constitute a new breed of religious actors shaping global policy–an organizational hybrid of religious beliefs and social activism at local, national, and international levels. This paper proposes a definition of RNGOs, traces the emergence of RNGOs from an historical perspective, and situates them in their current religious and sociopolitical contexts. Drawing on interviews and documentary data from a sample of 263 United Nations-affiliated RNGOs, the author proposes an analytical framework to examine the religious, organizational, strategic, and service dimensions of these organizations. Religious nongovernmental organizations' unique contributions to the redefinition of a just society as well as the sociopolitical challenges arising from their religious identity are discussed.     

论NGO资源汲取能力的强化

改革开放以来,我国政治和社会都发生了转型,各种非政府组织(NGO)的意义日益凸现。但是,比起国家和社会的需要,NGO的功能尚发挥得不够,有很多任务尚无法担当。造成这种困局的主要原因是NGO拥有的资源相对匮乏,能力也较为薄弱。因此,要充分发挥NGO的功能,首要的问题是强化它们的资源汲取能力。     

NGO与贫困治理：以香港为例

作为不同于市场和政府的第三种力量，NGO在贫困治理中具有独特的优势和作用。文章拟以香港为例，分析了NGO的发展及其在贫困治理中的作用。经过长期发展，香港NGO已成为一个规模庞大的第三部门，在扶贫领域发挥不可替代的作用。它们直接参与政府各项扶贫计划，提供个性化、多元化的社会服务，逐渐形成了一套比较完善的贫困治理模式，如重视与政府、商界的三方合作，推动社会投资，强调基层居民自下而上的参与。     

新媒体背景下公众参与生态文明建设的路径

党的十八、十九大均指出,生态文明建设功在当代、利在千秋。十九大进一步明确提出要构建“政府主导、社会协同、公众参与、法治保障”的生态文明建设新局面。《环境保护公众参与办法》的出台为公众参与环境保护提供了强有力的制度保障,但公众的参与程度与许多因素有关。在积极发动和鼓励公众参与生态文明建设的过程中,政府可发挥新媒体协商平台的作用,提高新媒体的回应能力,为公众参与生态文明建设提供保障;公众应借助新媒体互动平台的功能,进一步提升生态意识,践行生态行为,自觉维护生态环境;环保组织要发挥新媒体的聚焦作用,推动环保组织的成长壮大。     

中国地方NGO生成机制的制度分析

地方NGO作为一种具体制度安排，其生成机制主要是在外在制度环境的作用下，以潜在利益为基本诱因，外在制度需求与内在制度供给相互契合推进，从而激励地方公民合作创设NGO制度安排的复杂过程。这是中国地方NGO生成的简要逻辑。从制度需求与制度供给的视角分析，在中国地方NGO的生成机制中，国家与市场对NGO制度安排的供给、市民集体行动的理性选择、地方制度转型的适应性安排、地方政府之间的制度竞争、地方知识精英的主导性介入与网络等科学技术进步的推动是六个关键性因素。特别是国家与市场的博弈过程与中国地方NGO的发展壮大过程相伴相生。分析中国地方NGO的生成机制，可以窥见中国公民社会的生长与发展轨迹。     

民间组织参与我国贫困治理的角色及行动策略

民间组织是参与贫困治理的重要社会力量。在我国扶贫开发进程中,民间组织在贫困治理中扮演了扶贫资源有益补充、践行微观贫困治理理念/技术、专业扶贫服务供给等多种角色。民间组织的贫困治理行动是民间组织汲取各类资源并将其传递到扶贫对象的过程。在大扶贫格局中,民间组织扶贫资源汲取已由传统的社会领域延伸至政府部门和市场领域,形成了慈善捐助、政府购买扶贫服务、市场化运作（社会企业）等多种扶贫资源汲取策略。相应的,主要形成了项目机制、市场机制两种扶贫资源传递策略。项目机制的运用表明了民间组织在分化发展的过程中扶贫资源传递的整合,以及民间组织与政府部门协同推进贫困治理的制度化和规范化。市场机制（社会企业）是民间组织扶贫行动的策略创新,对民间组织独立实施贫困治理具有重要意义。     

社会化媒体对非洲非政府组织的影响及其限度

当前，使用社会化媒体的非洲非政府组织日益增多。社会化媒体是非洲非政府组织收集和发布信息的平台，也是其与民众、政府和外部其他主体交流的平台。社会化媒体之于非洲非政府组织并非无所不能。作为网络虚拟平台，社会化媒体有其难以克服的缺陷，它必须受制于现实。社会发展的客观现状构成社会化媒体在非洲非政府组织中应用的边界。     

Assessing NGO Empowerment in Housing Development Frameworks: Discourse and Practice in the Philippines

Amid the rise of democratization movements since the 1980s, many governments in developing countries have proactively introduced the ideas of decentralization and devolution into the policy arena. In the pursuit of democratic planning processes where civil society is encouraged to be a part of the formal decision-making system, articles advocating the empowerment of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been included into a series of legislations. This shift was soon reflected in housing development frameworks for the poor, leading to the formulation of a new approach called "enablement." The Philippines' experience for the last two decades follows this line of development. Filipino NGOs are now prescribed as a catalyst to add further dynamism to the improvement of substandard living environments. Empirical findings of this study exemplify that NGO empowerment has been increasingly accelerated by the combination of NGOs' self-endeavors and governments' initiatives. By utilizing the paradigm shift under the enablement approach, NGOs are engaged in the attempt of alliance-formation and network-building to expand their influence. Contrary to ideals, however, NGO empowerment may reveal some adverse effects such as excessive dependency on NGOs and distorted representation by NGOs. Moreover, the professionalization of NGOs is an additional factor which generates hierarchization at the grass-roots level. This study suggests that further research analyze the depth and width to which NGO empowerment has been penetrated in order to precisely capture the processes and consequences resulting in disempowerment.     

Contractual audit and mental health rehabilitation: a study of formulating effectiveness in a Finnish supported housing unit

Saario S, Raitakari S. Contractual audit and mental health rehabilitation: a study of formulating effectiveness in a Finnish supported housing unit Int J Soc Welfare 2010: 19: 321–329 © 2010 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and International Journal of Social Welfare. Mental health NGOs in Western Europe are increasingly managed by contractual audit procedures. This article concerns how contractual audit and its emphasis on effectiveness of care impact on the practices of long‐term mental health rehabilitation. To demonstrate this, a case study of a Finnish NGO that provides supported housing is presented. The study looks at how service purchasing practices, as stated in the contract between the municipality and the NGO, are reflected in the meetings among practitioners. Documentary and meeting data were utilised together with Mitchell Dean's notion of technologies of agency. It was found that practitioners actively sought to show the effectiveness of their everyday work in terms of contractual audit by demonstrating both the economic and progressive aspects of care. Thus, professional competency in mental health rehabilitation appears to entail both the skills of care interventions and the ability to perform these interventions as efficient and financially accountable activities.     

购买服务还是政府资助--政府向社会组织购买服务的实践含义

作为政府支持社会组织参与社会服务的一种方式,购买服务往往在广义和狭义两个层面被交替使用,带来了实践中的一些理解差异。对此,文章从历史溯源、当下实践和理论分析三个角度出发,分析了这些差异,并从政策规范的角度出发,对政府购买服务的实践含义进行了探析。