The role of civil society in the improvement of equitable development and the stimulation of democratic culture has been notably recognised by international development agencies. In the new policy of ‘good governance’ that proposes progress regarding development and democracy in parallel in the developing countries, civil society is often represented by non-governmental organisations (NGOs). This paper bases its arguments primarily on theories in relation to the role of civil society with regard to development and democracy to raise concerns about current policy trends of ‘good governance’ in the general context of developing countries with the main focus on Africa. The concerns are substantiated by empirical verification through a review of literature. The paper concludes that NGOs are unlikely to have the strength to either promote development or foster democracy.

This study examines the long-held argument that civic participation transfers to political participation, as expressed by South Korean citizens. Compared to the majority of existing research that has focused primarily on Western developed countries, the present study examines South Korea, to which little scholarly attention has been devoted. Relying on the World Values Survey (2005–2006 wave), the present study finds that in South Korea, civic participation outside of the political sphere does push individuals to be more politically active. However, the results also demonstrate that there are more questions that need to be resolved. First, when the analysis unpacked the dependent variable—political participation—the relationship between civic engagement and attending demonstrations or signing petitions is robust. However, this is not the case for joining boycotts or taking part in voting. Moreover, when unpacking the independent variable—civic participation—this study finds that not every type of civic organization spawns political participation. There is a positive impact of non-political organizations, such as art, music, or charitable organizations, on political participation, while a negative impact exists for interest-based and political organizations, such as professional associations or environmental organizations.

The study examines the empirical evidence of the submissions received from third sector organisations and their stakeholders in response to proposed changes to the New Zealand accounting standard setting framework. The study aims to determine whether third sector stakeholders have voice in third sector accounting standard setting. Critical comparison of submissions and proposals appear to show that the standard setters were not listening to their third sector stakeholders. However, the study found that the standard setters utilised legitimacy management strategies to gather third sector stakeholders’ voice. The standard setters proactively achieved this by conforming to the environment and achieving pragmatic legitimacy to ensure that their decisions were based on third sector stakeholders’ voice. The study is important for those countries where accounting standard setters are grappling with the due process to undertake for third sector accounting standards in its elevation of working groups to the role of salient stakeholders.

This article examines a human rights NGO that ceased operations after only 8 years. A voluntary and planned end, this case raises the possibility of a new form, the time-bound organization. Through a series of interviews with staff, board members, the founder, and key external stakeholders, this study examines the nonprofit’s leadership, time-bound structure, strategic approach, and wind-down process. Drawing on the lessons of this case, this article identifies benefits and challenges of the time-bound organization form. A range of voluntary organizations could learn from this example and consider the form, including nonprofits experiencing a leadership transition, facing environmental threats, or considering a structural change such as a merger.

Study abroad is cited commonly as a critical element of education for global civic engagement, but the significance of various programmatic features has not been well established. This study examines the relationships among three facets of study abroad programs—destination, type, and duration—and subsequent volunteerism through international development organizations. Survey responses were analyzed from 2,250 college alumni (71 % female, 14 % ethnic minority, M age = 27) who studied abroad between 1995 and 2005. The results of logistic regression indicated that studying abroad in a developing country and engaging in international service-learning were positively associated with the odds of development volunteerism. The number of months spent abroad also predicted development volunteerism, though duration did not moderate the effects of program destination and type. An interaction test demonstrated that program effects were not dependent on gender. The findings suggest that differences in the nature of study abroad programs influence the extent to which participants become actively engaged in global civil society.

This study tested an expanded TBP model, which included personal norms and self-identity as cognitive variables, in a sample of current young volunteers of a general charity in the UK. Actual volunteering was measured via continued observation throughout the duration of the projects. An integrative model of sustained volunteering was proposed because some relationships did not follow the hypothesized paths. Subjective norm emerged as the exclusive determinant of sustained volunteering and also as the potential mediator of the effects of other variables over future volunteering behavior. Two focus groups with volunteers and 28 personal interviews with the coordinators of the volunteering projects were conducted to triangulate the research findings and reveal the main causes for drop-outs and non-attendance.

Key stakeholders in the UK charity sector have, in recent years, advocated greater accountability for charity performance. Part of that debate has focussed on the use of conversion ratios as indicators of efficiency, with importance to stakeholders being contrasted with charities’ apparent reluctance to report such measures. Whilst, before 2005, conversion ratios could have been computed from financial statements, changes in the UK charity SORP have radically altered the ability of users to do this. This article explores the impact on the visibility of such information through an analysis of the financial statements of large UK charities before and after the 2005 changes. Overall, the findings suggest that, despite the stated intention of increasing transparency in respect of charity costs, the application of the changes has resulted in charities ‘managing’ the numbers and limiting their disclosures, possibly to the detriment of external stakeholders.

Charitable status is inherently linked in many jurisdictions with the requirement that an entity must be established for public benefit. But, until recently the public benefit principle had relatively little impact on the operations of most established charities. However, in England and Wales, reforms linked to the Charities Act 2006 led to a new requirement for public benefit reporting in the trustees’ annual report (TAR) of every registered charity. This new narrative reporting requirement had the potential to affect the understanding of accountability by charities. The paper investigates the impact of that requirement through a study of over 1,400 sets of charity reports and accounts and subsequent qualitative work with trustees and others involved in preparing TARs.

Internationally, there has been a steady increase in the number of countries instigating charity regulation. Public interest theory suggests that regulation increases organisational transparency through reducing information asymmetry, protects (or encourages) a competitive market, and leads to a distribution of resources which is in the public interest. While these arguments may explain charity regulation, the cost of compliance can be an issue for small- and medium-sized charities. Therefore, regulators tend to take a light-handed approach to small and medium charities’ information provision. This paper ascertains the impact of a light-handed enforcement regime on small and medium charities’ reporting, analysing the financial reporting practices of a selection of 300 small- and medium-sized charities registered with the former New Zealand Charities Commission against the Charities Act 2005 requirements and hence the rationale for this regulator. It uses this analysis to predict how the regulator’s activities might impact future reporting practices of charities.