ABSTRACT
This chapter develops the synthesis of policy network theories with new institutionalism and it offers concrete methodological and conceptual tools to think about bridging, power, and practice in non-governmental organization(NGO) politics and it focuses on new institutionalism that are most consequential for building NGO theories that can capture their associative capacities and the implications for agency and structure. The chapter is shaping the extent of NGO autonomy and agency, as maintained by policy network theories. Network institutionalism challenge NGO scholars to specify the institutional conditions under which NGOs move in the triangular space between civil society, the state, and the market, assuming complementary, competitive and confrontational roles relative to structures of governance nationally and globally. The structural theory of NGOs, as developed by William E. DeMars, provides a very useful adjustment to historical institutionalism and serves as a foundation for the network institutionalism. The main theme of the chapter understands the institutional reality of NGOs within structures of global governance.
