NGOs in Complex Global Social Governance Arrangement: Drivers of Policy Synergy or Policy Conflict?

Global social governance is increasingly characterized by complex and fragmented institutional arrangements. In this paper, we study the role of NGOs in these governance arrangements. In particular, we are interested in the question whether NGOs have the potential to be drivers of policy synergy or policy conflict. We understand policy synergy as a situation in which the interaction of different actors and their policies leads to more favorable outcomes than would have been achieved independently. Policy conflict describes then a situation in which the interaction of different policies results in more negative outcomes than if these would have been implemented in isolation. To study the impact NGOs have on these questions, we first take stock of their engagement in global social policy and then assess to what extent their role has been adequately captured in the academic literature. In a second step, we examine their potential to influence the institutional integration, norm conflicts, and actor constellations in such a way that either makes policy synergy or policy conflict more likely. Thirdly we draw on the governance literature to investigate the impact this has on the larger field of global social policy.