Finding Lost Words: How Non-Profit Organizations in China Effectively Participate in Policy Advocacy? —Based on the Successful Experience of Friends of Nature

Abstract

Non-profit organizations’ policy advocacy is an important force in promoting the scientification and democratization of public policies in China. However, in the overall structure of a strong government and a weak society in China, many problems exist in the process of public policy advocacy by NPOs. There is an urgent need to select typical cases to tap valuable local experiences. By combing the development history and major policy advocacy activities of Friends of Nature since its founding in 1994, this paper analyzes the effective ways for non-profit organizations to participate in policy advocacy. At the level of government, policy making should be more open and acceptable. At the level of non-profit organizations, efforts should be made to improve the political legitimacy, administrative legitimacy and internal legitimacy of non-profit organizations while enhancing the level of specialization, efficiently integrating the resources of all parties and exploring diversified ways of advocating.