Explore the vast range of titles available.

Received wisdom suggests that social organizations (such as non-government organizations, NGOs) have the power to upend the political status quo. However, in many authoritarian contexts, such as China, NGO emergence has not resulted in this expected regime change. In this book, Timothy Hildebrandt shows how NGOs adapt to the changing interests of central and local governments, working in service of the state to address social problems. In doing so, the nature of NGO emergence in China effectively strengthens the state, rather than weakens it. This book offers a groundbreaking comparative analysis of Chinese social organizations across the country in three different issue areas: environmental protection, HIV/AIDS prevention, and gay and lesbian rights. It suggests a new way of thinking about state-society relations in authoritarian countries, one that is distinctly co-dependent in nature: governments require the assistance of NGOs to govern while NGOs need governments to extend political, economic and personal opportunities to exist.

In the waning years of the Cold War, the United States and China began to cautiously engage in cultural, educational, and policy exchanges, which in turn strengthened new security and economic ties. These links have helped shape the most important bilateral relationship in the late-twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. This book explores the dynamics of cultural exchange through an in-depth historical investigation of three organizations at the forefront of U.S.-China non-governmental relations: the Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies, the National Committee on United States-China Relations, and The 1990 Institute. Norton Wheeler reveals the impact of American non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on education, environment, fiscal policy, and civil society in contemporary China. In turn, this book illuminates the important role that NGOs play in complementing formal diplomacy and presents a model of society-to-society relations that moves beyond old debates over cultural imperialism. Finally, the book highlights the increasingly significant role of Chinese Americans as bridges between the two societies. Based on extensive archival research and interviews with leading American and Chinese figures, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Chinese politics and history, international relations and transnational NGOs.

This volume presents a comparison of the experiences of NGOs in China and Europe. The chapters on China contain the most comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of various types of NGOs currently active in the country. The contributions on foreign NGOs in China, non-governmental think tanks, public interest legal organizations, labour related NGOs and charity organizations, are the first in English to discuss successful experiences as well as the difficulties they face in the post-Mao era. The European studies draw examples from countries where the experiences of NGOs are at various stages of development. The section on NGOs in Central and Eastern Europe examines the rapid expansion of civil society and their pivotal role in promoting political change and building democracy in a transitional society, as well as the challenges they confront in advancing a strong civil society. Those chapters on NGOs' experiences in Western European countries, especially in the Netherlands and the UK, provide insightful information and examination of the most contentious issues concerning NGOs' accountability, governance and relationship with the government.

In the study of civil society, Tocqueville-inspired research has helped illuminate important connections between associations and democracy, while corporatism has provided a robust framework for understanding officially approved civil society organizations in authoritarian regimes. Yet neither approach accounts for the experiences of ostensibly illegal grassroots nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in an authoritarian state. Drawing on fieldwork in China, I argue that grassroots NGOs can survive in an authoritarian regime when the state is fragmented and when censorship keeps information local. Moreover, grassroots NGOs survive only insofar as they refrain from democratic claims-making and address social needs that might fuel grievances against the state. For its part, the state tolerates such groups as long as particular state agents can claim credit for any good works while avoiding blame for any problems. Grassroots NGOs and an authoritarian state can thus coexist in a \"contingent symbiosis\" that-far from pointing to an inevitable democratization-allows ostensibly illegal groups to operate openly while relieving the state of some of its social welfare obligations. Adapted from the source document.

Background In recent years, the Chinese government has increased its support for the development of community-based psychiatric rehabilitation (CBPR) services and initiated pilot programs for government purchasing of CBPR services from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in order to address the inadequacy of the government’s own supply capacity of CBPR services. This study investigated how the NGOs in Shanghai perceived the challenges and opportunities for participating in the provision of government-purchased CBPR services. Methods A qualitative descriptive approach was employed in this study. The local NGOs’ program directors who had been responsible for the provision of government-purchased CBPR services in Shanghai were interviewed regarding their perceptions of the challenges and opportunities. Interview transcripts were coded and analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis method. Results A total of 19 NGOs’ program directors were interviewed. The challenges perceived by them for NGOs to participate in the provision of government-purchased CBPR services included difficulty with engaging individuals with mental illness and their families, lack of resources, lack of knowledge and skills, inadequate collaborations with other stakeholders, and limitations of services. The opportunities could be grouped into external and internal ones. External opportunities included China’s favorable policy environment, Shanghai’s developed economic environment, and increased public awareness of mental health, while internal opportunities included NGOs’ greater flexibility, high team cohesion, stronger focus on the holistic needs of clients, better resource integration capabilities, and ability to provide long-term follow-up and support for clients. Conclusions Based on the findings, recommendations for future actions are provided in the areas of research, public awareness, funding, training, referrals, collaboration, and service designing to improve the mechanism of government purchasing of CBPR services from NGOs in China.

Metodos Desde 2014, el Centro de Control de Enfermedades Animales de Pekin puso en marcha un programa para la eliminacion de la rabia mediada por perros, en colaboracion con el gobierno local y organizaciones no gubernamentales. El programa incluyo: (I) una campana obligatoria de vacunacion antirrabica canina; (ii) la vigilancia epidemiologica de la rabia en poblaciones locales de perros; (iii) programas educativos de concienciacion sobre la rabia en espacios publicos y escuelas; y (iv) el establecimiento de una plataforma de servicios en linea para fortalecer la comunicacion con la poblacion sobre la rabia.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are becoming increasingly significant stakeholders in global governance and business operations. However, measuring their efficiency is a challenging task due to their mission-driven nature. While previous research has proposed financial and non-financial indicators to measure NGO efficiency, none of them has compared the differences between environmental and social NGOs. This study aims to investigate the factors influencing the program efficiency of NGOs in China and compare the differences between environmental and social NGOs. 12 indicators are employed and tested using data collected from the Chinese Research Data Services (CNRDS) platform. The study employs multiple regression analysis to examine the influential factors identified in the dataset. The findings demonstrated different influential factors of program efficiency among environmental and social NGOs. The results of the analysis provide valuable insights for NGO operators, policymakers, and researchers in the field of NGOs.

Global attention is highly focused on biodiversity conservation. Various countries are actively implementing relevant conservation measures. To advance these efforts in China, it is essential to understand global conservation actions. The orchid family, one of the most diverse groups of flowering plants, has become a “flagship” group for plant conservation. In this study, we summarized 3418 policies and regulations related to orchid conservation in 45 countries. We found that orchid conservation actions in various countries have focused on in situ conservation, with 1469 policies and regulations issued for nature reserves, while ex situ conservation has been seriously neglected, with only seven relevant regulations. Most developing countries have experienced an increase in orchid conservation actions, while developed countries have plateaued. We amassed 370 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for orchid conservation. At present, the total number of policies and regulations for orchid protection in China is approximately 84, with 67 issued since 2000. Two non-governmental organizations have been established for orchid conservation. Although the benefit of orchid conservation in China is significant, it still requires continuous improvement compared to many other countries. We recommend that the Chinese government draws on the experiences of the United States, Canada, and Australia in areas such as policy and regulation formulation, optimization of non-governmental organizations, and implementation of related conservation projects. Through learning and collaboration, challenges can be transformed into opportunities for development.