ABSTRACT
The past decades have witnessed a significant shift in the influence over development policy and practice between three groups of global actors— governments, civil society and the corporate sector. Under the rubric of the ‘good governance’ paradigm advocating a lean state, the emergence of the corporate sector as one of the key drivers of development has become more apparent. Simultaneously, international agencies have taken the initiative to pressure companies to act in socially responsible ways. The UN Global Compact is the best known of these initiatives. Moreover, over the last decade we have also seen a shift from an overly critical view of the corporate sector by civil society to positive engagement between companies and civil society organizations.
