This chapter, divided into five sections, begins with background infor-
mation on these four broad types of NGOs -- GROs, GRO networks, GRSOs,
and GRSO networks. The second section, which explores the meaning
of civil society, is followed by an exploration of the multiple roles that
NGOs play in creating, strengthening, and sustaining it. Since civil soci-
ety is a static concept, however, that cannot encompass dynamic interac-
tions with governments, the fourth section of the chapter resurrects the
concept of political development, elaborated in the 1960s and academi-
cally discredited before NGOs began to proliferate throughout the devel-
oping and transitional countries. Although political development is far
from inevitable, when it does occur, it takes place in the political com-
mons between government and civil society. Contrasts are also drawn
between the concepts of political development and democratization,
even though democratization may be indicative of political development.
The concluding section of the chapter provides an outline of the rest of
the book.

The term NGO has many different meanings. Some observers use it to
mean all nongovernmental organizations everywhere, including Northern
NGOs (NNGOs) based in one developed country that operate internation-
ally, international NGOs (INGOs) or networks based in three or more
countries, Southern NGOs from the Third World, and many other kinds
of nonprofit organizations throughout the world. The term also has numer-
ous culturally specific meanings. In Western Europe, it generally means
nonprofit organizations that are active internationally. ⁵ In the transitional
countries of Europe and the former Soviet Union, it tends to mean all
charitable and nonprofit organizations.

In the Third World, the term NGO generally refers to organizations
involved in development, broadly defined. Hospitals, charitable organiza-
tions, and universities are usually called voluntary or nonprofit organiza-
tions rather than NGOs. ⁶ Although some observers of the Third World use
the term NGO to mean only intermediary or grassroots support organiza-
tions, all four types of NGOs are involved in sustainable development,
and many individual organizations interact with governments. This sec-
tion first explores GROs and their horizontal connections with one another
in GRO networks. Next, the focus is on GRSOs and their vertical connec-
tions with GROs, as well as their horizontal connections with one another
in GRSO networks. The section concludes with a discussion of how
NGOs are "scaling out," or extending their reach to include more people.

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