NGOs : Gaining Policy Influence Through Collaborative Networks

Faith-based organizations have been shown to have varying relevance and saliency in urban politics. Past research typically focuses on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as intermediary organizations. The discussions revolve around the distinctly political, financial or administrative/service providing capacities of NGOs. Less explored are the unintended political consequences of their activities. Like their secular counterparts, faith-based organizations can play an essential role in the delivery of local public goods and services. They can become a linchpin of governance, providing much needed social support structures. Faith-based and other non-governmental organizations can act in concert with or under the devolved authority of the government. They can also fill gaps left by both the government and the market. This paper contends that by being consistent and trustworthy service providers, NGOs may change the landscape of stakeholders involved in urban politics. Indeed, even faith-based and secular NGOs that do not explicitly seek to influence policy may do so through the networks in which they affiliate and the entities with which they collaborate to carry out their primary functions. The paper is based on a nested research design with quantitative and qualitative data from public documents, surveys and interviews from several different types of communities, government entities and service providers. This paper examines the degree and extent to which NGOs work with the government and other entities to provide services and how that positions them to influence policy in Michigan’s two largest urban centers. It demonstrates the importance of collaborative networks for a range of governance functions. The paper also illuminates how service provision allows NGOs, faith-based and secular, to gain entrée to local political networks and systems and correspondingly parlay that political access into policy influence