A Comparative Analysis of CSO and NGO Essay

A Comparative Analysis of CSO’s and NGO’s The Philippine democracy recognizes the roles played by Civil Society Organizations(CSO) and Non-governmental Organizations (NGO) in people empowerment and participatory governance. In Article Ill Section 23 of the Constitution, it is stated that states are to “encourage non-governmental, community- based and sectoral organizations that promote the general welfare. iYet there has not been much clarity regarding the roles of these two organizations.

Studies regarding CSO’s and NGO’s have often used these two terms interchangeably without giving uch light on their difference. Both the terms CSO’s and NGO’s are still contested, but for the achievement of the primary purpose of this paper, the definitions that would be adopted would be those that are mostly used for studies on these two entities. The aim of this paper is to give light to the rather vague distinction given in these two organizations. The Civil Society Organizations in the Philippines has commonly been understood as official as well non-governmental organizations.

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It has commonly been referred to as the non-state and non-corporate segment of the ociety. The adoption of the term CSO in the Philippine discourse dates back to the 1990’s, following the political trend in Eastern Europe in 1989. ii When it first entered the Philippine discourse it generally had almost the same meaning as NGO’s or rather the terms were loosely interchangeable with each other. This is for during those times Civil Society Organizations were Just starting to sprout.

Later on, the meaning of CSO’s has broadened together with the increasing number of non- corporate private institutions trying to advance a variety of public causes. iii Before the 1986 transition to the martial law regime the most commonly used terms to denote civil society organizations are??”people’s organizations, mass movements, trade unions, cooperatives, community organizations, etc. Although these terms are still in use at present, it has already been embraced under the umbrella of the Civil Society Organizations.

The use of the CSO’s to denote these transformational reforms have been legitimized through the UNsummits. iv There are many definitions associated with the concept of CSO’s, but it has been broadly defined as??”the space or arena between the state and the market. In theory, CSO’s are private institutions that are organized and operate independently out of the state and the market, but interact with the state and the market. This means that these organizations cannot receive support from the government and that public servants cannot be part of these organizations.

They are as well non-profit organizations. Hence, theycannot distribute profit amongst its members and can only use its profit for the achievement of its goals. Furthermore, they are self-governing and non-party organizations. They maintain autonomy and control over their own actions and that hey are not to be affiliated with political parties. v The Philippines has one of the most dynamic and largest Civil Society Organizations in South-east Asia. There are different ways in which CSO’s are to be classified, but in Accord to Balbis (n. d. such parameters maybe used for identifying them??” the beneficiaries of their actions (membership organizations, or those whose beneficiaries are the members or assoclates, ana organlzatlons wnose Denenclarles are people otner tnan tne members of the organization); the type of activity carried out, the institutional origin, deology, the origin of the resources used for the activities, the age or sex of members, etc. Civil Society Organizations generally classify a group of people, institutions, and organizations that have the goal of advancing or expressing a common purpose through ideas, actions, and demands on governments. iThere are four main types of organizations in terms of structure under the CSO??”I) associations of affinity 2) organizations with a territorial community base 3) entrepreneurial foundations 4) support organizations. vii The firsttype of organization, associations of ffinity, is an association of persons bonded together by common interest, whether it be social, cultural, and economic aspirations. The resources in which they use to fuel the realization of their interests come from the contributions of their own members.

The members are to give their fair share of contribution for the realization of the organization’s collective goals. Examples of which would be trade unions, workers associations and mutual assistance funds. The second type of organization, organizations with a territorial and community base, are those that respond to the eeds of the people living in their given territory. These organizations acquire their resources from different sources. An example of which would be a civic organization.

The third type of organization, entrepreneurial foundations, are those organizations that are built and financed by companies that canvass for donations and carry out humanitarian activities that are legally apart from the original company. viii The fourth type of organization, support organizations, are associations of persons with the collective aim of helping others. Examples of which would be social services and rganizations for promotion and development. ix Civil Society Organizations encompass all umbrella terms for all organizations located in the area between the state and the market. The membership for the CSO’s have become quite diverse, it covers a variety of non-profit and non-government groups that interacts with the government and the market. Some of which would be civic organizations, professional organizations, academe, media, churches, people’s organizations, cooperatives and non-governmental organizations. xiAs compared to the CSO’s at the time of former President Marcos, the CSO’s at present has increasingly become roader in terms of structure and more complex in terms of the quality of its work and achievements.

The terms CSO’s and NGO’s have often been used interchangeably. One reason of which would be its history where both terms were loosely used for representing each other. This would be for before the 1980’s most of the civil society groups would be classified as NGO’s. It was only later when civil society groups dedicated to various purposes have increasingly grown in number. In addition, the most prominent sub-sector of the Civil Society Organizations at present would be the NGO’s. They are described by the Commonwealth Business Council are the operational arm of the Civil Society Organizations. ii A primary reason for this would be due to the sub-sector’s larger number as compared to other CSO’s. Furthermore, the Philippines have often been described as the NGO capital of the world. This is for NGO’s are more active and more noticeable in the Philippines than the rest of Southeast Asia. xiii The numbers of NGO’s in the country are estimated to be around 1 5,000 to 30,000. xiv NGO’s are formalized non-stock, non-profit organlzatlons tnat are created outs10e 0T tne government In order to aaaress articular issues, tasks or functions that are non-commercial of nature. vThese may include local, national, regional, and international groups dedicated to serve their particular function driven by people of common interest for the advancement of general welfare, development and other issues. xvi NGO’s in relation to CSO’s are only a segment of the bigger whole. With the above given definition of NGO’s and CSO’s, it would be drawn that NGO’s falls under the fourth type of organization of CSO’s. Hence, NGO’s are to be classified as support type of organizations under the lassification of CSO’s, NGO’s being part of the coherent whole and CSO’s being the coherent whole.

Although it may be clear that NGO’s are only a sub-sector of the CSO’s, the types of organization of NGO’s as enumerated by Balbis is not enough in order to distinguish NGO’s from other CSO’s. In accord to Balbis, this difficulty in distinguishing it from other CSO’s may be accounted for the subjective and overlapping definitions identified with it. An example of which would be identifying the part of the society from which NGO’s operate. Most of the CSO’s together with the NGO’s are defined as non-governmental.

Additionally, NGO’s together with some CSO’s claim that the beneficiaries of their actions are not their members themselves, but other persons or groups specifically the least developed sectors. Lastly is that NGO’s together with other CSO’s claim that they are non-profit organizations whose primary aim is to help improve the living conditions of these sectors, where they differ only with the terms in which they use to advance their advocacies. Such terms would be??”development, promotion, support, education, training, etc. vii In order to be able to distinguish NGO’s from other CSO’s one must be able to earn those types of organizations falling within the umbrella of CSO’s. In accord to the Local Government Academy (2011) there are six types of Civil Society Organizations as enumerated by Carino (2002)??”1) cooperative 2) non-government organization 3) civic organization 4) people’s organization 5) social movement 6) professional/industry organization. In order to be able to have a comprehensive view between NGO’s and other CSO’s, a table that would try to distinguish the different characteristics of each type of CSO would be illustrated.

Type of CSO Members Issue Addressed Beneficiary Profit/Non-profit/Non- stock Cooperative Poor Self-help/ Social Cultural Economic needs Not entirely Non-profit Non-governmental Organization/ NGO Middle class-led/managed Help others/General welfare and Development e. g. Least developed sector of society/Poor Non-pro T VNon-stocK Civic Organization Community Educational and Charitable purposes Non-profit Peoples Organization Marginalized Groups Economic and Social well-being Profit Social Movement Informal grouping of individuals/Organizations Social Change Society Professional/ Industry Organization Registered Professionals

Benefit and welfare of professionals a certain discipline/ profession Those belonging to a certain discipline/ profession Non-stock Data on the table above are gathered from different sources. Data that were tabulated on the above table are those that are generally accepted. The table shows the distinctive features of each CSO in order to be compared to NGO’s. NGO’s as compared to other CSO’s in general are non-stock non-profit organizations most oftenly managed by the middle-class which aims for the development and general welfare of the least developed sectors specifically the poor.

In conclusion, the Non-governmental organizations are only a part of the Civil Society Organizations. They are only a segment of the broader entity. The confusion on the terms of the two entities occurred due to historical events, increase in number of NGO’s and increase in number of CSO’s of various advocacies. Now, these two terms are not to be confused with each other as CSO’s comprise any organization between the state and the market, meaning it encompasses all organizations between the state and the market. In comparison, NGO’s only pertain to a certain organization under the umbrella of the CSO. 2010-017004

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