Nonprofit Advocacy in Weakly Institutionalized Political Systems: The Case of NGDOs in Lima, Peru

Nongovernmental development organizations (NGDOs) in the Third World are considered an important force in strengthening democratic practices. Many Third World countries, however, have political systems characterized by both weak states and weak civil societies, especially in the areas of development and welfare planning. In these cases, NGDOs must attempt both to strengthen civil society via grass-roots empowerment and to ensure the viability of the state as an apparatus capable of processing political demands and claims in a more or less democratic fashion. Based on six in-depth case studies, this article examines how Peruvian NGDOs have responded to this situation in the last ten years.