In India, NGOs have emerged as the dominant form of civic association, and they mediate between social groups and the Indian state by facilitating government action. This project examines how NGOs partake in the political process more generally and specifically when and why certain Indian NGOs change their political strategies to include litigation to demand rights or policy changes. Resource capacity in conjunction with low levels of political inclusion in the policy-making and policy-implementing arena within the political process are shape NGOs' legal activism. To explain variation in NGOs' decision to use litigation as a political strategy to pursue organizational goals the project will use cross-sectional survey data collected from NGOs located in New Delhi. The survey will provide data on the NGOs' resource availability, the tactics they employ, and the NGOs' relationship with the state and donors. Through the examination of NGOs' legal activism in India the proposed project will contribute to the study of Indian politics and the workings of democratic institutions in a non-western context. Furthermore, this project will contribute to ongoing discussions about enhancing different forms of political participation in India and building viable democratic institutions.
This project will also have a substantial broader impact by contributing to debates on how emerging democracies with high poverty and inequality build political institutions committed to enhancing social justice and democratic governance. It will do so via broad dissemination beyond the scholarly community. It will also contribute to understanding how to craft political institutions that allow for adequate and equal access to the state in order to enhance accountability.
The goal of the project was to enhance our understanding on how NGOs in India partake in the political process, and what may explain why certain NGOs change their set of political strategies to include litigation to access the state and demand certain rights or policy changes. In order to examine and explain variation in NGO behavior to utilize litigation as a political strategy to pursue organizational goals, the project conducted a unique cross-sectional survey among NGOs located in Delhi, India. The survey was designed to primarily collect data on the NGOs’ resource availability, tactics employed, and the relationship toward the state and different donors. With the help of four local research assistants, who conducted face-to-face interviews from a predetermined pool of NGOs, we have been able to achieve a remarkable response rate of 56.8%; meaning more than half of the targeted NGOs participated in the survey. The analysis of the survey data has shown that the dominant factors determining NGOs’ legal activism is a NGO’s larger political motivation rather than the amount of resources it has available. NGOs that view themselves as fulfilling a political role and aim for social change without cooperating or receiving financial support from the Indian state are more likely to engage in contentious political activity, including litigation. NGOs with the agenda of inducing change "from within the system" as reflected by a cooperative partnership with the state, are less likely to engage in political activism, but rather focus on more resource-intensive service provisions. That is to say, while resources are needed for apolitical service provision, NGOs with fewer resources tend to be less involved in enhancing the Indian service sector, but focus more on political participation. In other words, resource capacity is not related to the use of litigation. However, having experience using other political strategies, such as contacting a legislator or bureaucrat as well as participating in committee hearings and bill drafting activities, has a positive impact on a NGO’s likelihood to also use litigation as an additional political strategy. In sum, this examination of NGOs’ legal activism in India has found that NGOs entertaining a cooperative relationship with the Indian state as well as receiving government grants are less likely to become politically active. Thus, the relationship between the state and the Indian NGO sector is crucial in shaping political participation emanating from civil society organizations. A less intensive relationship with the state would further more NGO political activism. Thus, fostering other forms of partnerships and collaborative networks as well as alternative funding may have a positive impact on enhancing political participation from civil society organizations and NGOs.
