A government-organized non-governmental organization (GONGO) is a
non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...
that was set up or sponsored by a government in order to further its political interests and mimic the civic groups and civil society at home, or promote its international or geopolitical interests abroad.
History
The term GONGO had become established by the late 1980s, and it was suggested that it was first introduced by a group of Indonesian
non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...
s.
Most contemporary attempts to understand GONGOs have come from studies of
authoritarian contexts, where these organizations have proliferated as a deliberative strategy by the state to have a (
corporatist
Corporatism is a Collectivism and individualism, collectivist political ideology which advocates the organization of society by Corporate group (sociology), corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guil ...
) mechanism that feeds directly into a grassroots civic space. It is thus unsurprising that the current theorizing on the nature of GONGOs primarily highlights their role in undermining
liberal democratic
Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into di ...
values. The
Chinese Communist Party
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...
's
United Front
A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political ...
system is an example of such use of GONGOs.
Goals
A GONGO can be created for any sound political or social purpose, however, in reality, it would be functioning as a mechanism of the government to further its domestic political interests and realize its economic and foreign policy objectives. Sometimes, GONGOs are created to solicit international aid, or mitigate specific humanitarian issues. Though not necessarily confined to developing countries, most often, GONGOs are set up by undemocratic governments to maintain some level of control of a GONGO's personnel, purpose, operation or activities.
[ This control is often not seen in a positive light, as it compromises the spirit of an NGO by introducing hidden actors and withholding the government's intentions from the public.][Naím, Moisés]
Democracy's Dangerous Impostors
''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', 21 April 2007.
Examples
Examples of government-organized non-governmental organization:
* Chinese Students and Scholars Association
The Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) () is the official organization for overseas Chinese students and scholars registered in most colleges, universities, and institutions outside of the People's Republic of China. The associati ...
Confucius Institute
Confucius Institutes (CI; ) are public educational and cultural promotion programs funded and arranged currently by the , a government-organized non-governmental organization (GONGO) under the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic o ...
[
* ]World Without Nazism
World Without Nazism (WWN) (russian: Мир без нацизма, МБН), or Mir Bez Natsizma (MBN), is a Russian political organization with ties to Vladimir Putin's government, which claims to campaign against "neo-fascism."
The group has al ...
[James Kirchick]
Anti-Nazi Group Secretly Helping Kremlin Rebuild Russian Empire
''The Daily Beast'', 02.08.2015.
See also
* Gray propaganda
Political warfare is the use of political means to compel an opponent to do one's will, based on hostile intent. The term political describes the calculated interaction between a government and a target audience, including another state's govern ...
* Quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation
A quango or QUANGO (less often QuANGO or QANGO) is an organisation to which a government has devolved power, but which is still partly controlled and/or financed by government bodies. The term was originally a shortening of "quasi-NGO", where NG ...
References
Further reading
* Cumming, Lawrence S
GONGOs
In Anheier, Helmut K, and Stefan Toepler. ''International Encyclopedia of Civil Society.'' Berlin: Springer, 2010.
* Naim, Moises
What is a Gongo.
In Mansbach, Richard W., and Edward Rhodes. ''Global Politics in a Changing World: A Reader.'' Belmont, CA: Wadsworth / Cengage Learning, 2009.
* Sharma, Aradhana
Logics of Empowerment: Development, Gender, and Governance in Neoliberal India.
Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2008.
External links
Definition for a GONGO
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', October 29, 2010.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gongo
Government agencies