NGOs and Social Protection in East Asia: Korea, Thailand and Indonesia

Abstract

This article analyzes the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in social protection in East Asia. The article focuses on two types of NGO roles in social protection-direct provision and indirect pressure-and examines how the relative proportions of the two types of roles vary by country in East Asia, depending on factors that are contextual (political democratization), pulling (developmental welfare state), or pushing (civil society). A comparative analysis of Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia reveals that each represents a differing mix of pressure and provision functions by NGOs in social protection. In Korea pressure seems to be the main role of NGOs; in Indonesia it is provision; while in Thailand pressure and provision are relatively evenly mixed. The study concludes with a summary of the research findings, discussion on the limitations of the paper, and suggestions for future research in order to develop more sophisticated accounts of NGO roles in social protection in East Asia.