Impact of the Georgian Non-Governmental Sector on Social Capital in the Process of Policy Advocacy

Abstract

Since the 1990s, the donor-supported non-governmental sector in Georgia has become the synonym of civil society. As a result, it has been tasked with all rights and responsibilities that are characteristic to the western-type civil society. This study reviews policy advocacy campaigns conducted by Georgian non-governmental organizations (NGOs), based on the original research. Advocacy
campaigns are defined as complex mechanisms of civic engagement that impact public policy and social changes, but also use leverages aimed at changing the social norms and develop social capital. The study concludes that in the process of policy advocacy, NGOs that have emerged in the post-Soviet environment are more oriented at political or social changes than at social capital development. The sector makes important positive contributions to public policy and social change. However, it is supposed that strategies utilized do not, or have a weak impact on social capital development in the short-term perspective.