Non-government organisations and the state - partners and adversaries

As NGOs have become significant players transnationally in recent decades, we are faced with the question of what such proliferation of their role means at the macro leve! for the inter-state system and at the micro leve! for the autonomous expressions of individual citizens. This is the context in which this chapter will discuss how NGOs fit into the landscape of state and non-state players, and moreover, in considering the ways in which NGOs engage in political action.