Civil society and NGOs

This chapter examines forms, consequences, and challenges of civil society involvement in contemporary global governance. The first section considers definitions of civil society. The second maps the various involvements (both direct and indirect) of civil society actors in global regulatory processes. The third section assesses the impacts of civil society efforts on global governance—that is, how NGOs and other civil society groups affect institutional developments, agendas, decisions, discourses, and deeper structures of global governance. The fourth section considers the relationship between civil society and legitimacy in global governance. The conclusion includes several suggestions for future enhancement of civil society engagement of global-scale regulation.