Child Welfare Policies in Russia—Civil Society Contributions Without Return?

Abstract

Child welfare is high on the priority list of Russian authorities. It is a policy area where domestic NGO’s and organised citizens interact with the authorities to help formulate and implement policies in ways that could be likened to ‘network governance’ . The paper gives an overview of the arenas on which child welfare NGOs and authorities meet and analyses the NGOs roles as public organisations, professional organisations, and volunteer organisations. The domestic NGOs contribute with resources in terms of finances, man hours, innovative methods, and legitimation of policies (input legitimacy). The paper follows up by discussing what the non-state groups get in return in terms of influence. The potential for addressing not only child welfare but also child rights is discussed in light of general political and cultural constraints in contemporary Russia given the country’s authoritarian mode of government and officially-sanctioned lifestyle conservatism.