Politically signiWcant INGOs and other transnational civil society groups do notoperate in a sphere constituted by civil society alone. Civil society groups rarely
control economic or military resources that give them direct power as it is usually
understood. The political eVectiveness of such groups depends on their ability
to persuade others—state actors, the general public, corporations, or inter-
governmental organizations—to alter their policies or behavior. Most of the
literature described above focused on the eVorts of transnational civil society to
inXuence states. But another strand of the literature has focused on the interactions
between civil society groups and other actors. Doh and Teegen ( 2003 ), for example,
provide insights into the growing range of interactions directly between NGOs and
the business community. A substantial literature has addressed the formal organs
of global governance: Intergovernmental organizations such as the World Bank, the
International Monetary Fund, and the United Nations. Such interactions are at
least as much in need of scholarly investigation as are the inXuences of civil
society groups directly on governments, as intergovernmental organizations are
established by states explicitly to serve the interests of states. Why, to what extent,
and under what conditions do such organizationsWnd themselves inXuenced by
non-governmental actors?
Nelson ( 1995 ) constituted theWrst overall assessment of the role of NGOs in
inXuencing the World Bank. He found that the World Bank’s claims to have
successfully incorporated NGOs into project design and implementation obscured
a more mixed picture. His data, collected between 1973 and 1990 , revealed that of
the 304 joint projects between the World Bank and the NGO community, only 54
involved NGOs in project design. In most cases, NGOs played either a minor role
or were involved solely in the implementation phases of projects, having no
inXuence on determining what the Bank was trying to accomplish.
Weiss and Gordenker’s ( 1996 ) edited volume took on the subject of the United
Nations and its interactions with NGOs as a vantage point from which to analyze
the roles of NGOs in global governance. They noted that the United Nations
Charter contains speciWc language in Article 71 authorizing the Economic and
Social Council (ECOSOC) to ‘‘make suitable arrangements for consultation with
non-governmental organizations which are concerned with matters within its
competence,’’ a notable formalization of what had been only informal ties between
the UN’s predecessor, the League of Nations, and NGOs. Over time, as the scope of
the UN’s activities broadened and as other parts of the UN developed mechanisms
for dealing directly with NGOs, the impact of NGO participation become more
and more signiWcant, particularly after the end of the cold war. The volume has a
particularly useful theoretical framework (Gordenker and Weiss 1996 ).
Willetts’ ( 1996 ) edited volume of the same year took more of a policy approach
to the question of NGO relations with various intergovernmental organizations,
including the United Nations and the World Bank. After several chapters
describing how interactions between the two sectors have led to some extraordinary
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