The ‘inclusion’ of civil society in the Organization of African Unity

Abstract An increasing number of intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) have established participatory mechanisms for nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Although affiliation with an IGO has been widely accepted as a source of NGO legitimacy, there have been few systematic efforts to investigate the mechanism of the institutional legitimation of NGOs. We investigate African NGOs affiliated with the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) to examine whether the rational-legal authority of IGOs is sufficient for the institutional legitimation of NGOs. We conducted a mini-case study as well as a longitudinal statistical analysis of African NGOs. We find evidence that the OAU affiliation status negatively impacted the growth of African NGOs. We conclude that the OAU used its affiliation status to invite ‘friends’ of state leaders instead of supporting the bottom-up voice of African civil society. Our study suggests that an IGO’s rational-legal authority is not enough for NGO legitimacy, but the institutional legitimation of NGOs may require substantive democratic deliberation.