Analysis reveals how non-profit organizations influence advocacy and community empowerment, suggesting their role in accountability amidst political repression.
Non-profit and non-governmental organizations perform multiple, interrelated functions that define their societal influence and legitimacy. This article explores four central roles—service delivery, advocacy, community empowerment, and innovation—highlighting both their contributions and internal contradictions. NGOs fill governance gaps, promote accountability, and foster civic participation, yet they also navigate donor dependency, political repression, and representational dilemmas. Drawing on theoretical frameworks from Salamon, Putnam, and Keck & Sikkink, and supported by illustrative global examples, the analysis reveals how these roles overlap and interact within broader political and economic systems. By adopting a critical, interdisciplinary lens, the article argues for recognizing NGOs not as isolated moral actors but as embedded institutions negotiating power, legitimacy, and survival in an evolving global order.
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Anna Neya Kazanskaia (2025) studied this question.