The International Journal
of Not-for-Profit Law

Volume 6, Issue 3, June 2004

In this issue of the International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law, we focus on two timely, multifaceted, and controversial topics: accountability and transparency.

Kumi Naidoo of Civicus offers a provocative introduction, which considers how demands for accountability and transparency may relate to military action, terrorism, and global uncertainty. Equally provocative, David Kennedy of Harvard Law School spotlights some of the rarely acknowledged downsides, trade-offs, and self-delusions of international humanitarianism. Two complementary articles explore aspects of the American NGO environment: John H. Graham IV of the American Society of Association Executives details the regulatory threats and other challenges facing associations; and H. Peter Karoffof The Philanthropic Initiative, Inc., asks what steps philanthropic organizations can take in order to earn the public’s trust. Turning elsewhere in the world, development policy consultant Ignatius Adeh looks at NGO accountability and transparency in Zimbabwe, concluding with recommendations for NGOs, donors, and the government; and Robert B. Hayhoe, a Toronto-based charity lawyer and IJNL’s Canada editor, analyzes transparency requirements imposed by the 2004 Canadian federal budget.

Outside our section on accountability and transparency, Ontario attorney Terrance S. Carter complements Mr. Hayhoe’s article with a look at how anti-terrorism legislation is reshaping the philanthropic process in Canada. San Francisco attorney Thomas Silk similarly illuminates anti-terrorism laws in the United States in the course of his primer on the law affecting American corporate philanthropy. Social Economy and Law (SEAL) Journal has once again graciously allowed us to republish two compelling articles, both addressing relations between the government and civil society: Alexander Vinnikov on Ukraine, and Vsevolod Ovcharenko on Kazakhstan. Miguel Angel Itriago uses recent experience in Venezuela to consider how civil society can most aptly be defined.

Our issue concludes with incisive book reviews by Michael Edwards, author of the new book Civil Society; Michael Bisesi, director of the Center for Nonprofit and Social Enterprise Management at Seattle University; and Peter Frumkinof the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

In short, this IJNL ranges from abstract to pragmatic, description to prescription, professor to practitioner, Canada to Kazakhstan. And it once again exemplifies our commitment to providing a forum for diverse views on controversial topics.

Stephen Bates
Editor
International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law
stephenbates@earthlink.net

ICNL is grateful to those who are supporting or who have supported this publication in the past, including the United States Agency for International Development, the Catholic University of America, the World Bank, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Open Society Institute, the Wallace Global Fund, the Helen Bader Foundation, the Compton Foundation, the American Express Foundation, the AT&T Foundation, the GE Fund, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Alcoa Foundation, the Chevron Corporation, the Counterpart Foundation, the Aga Khan Foundation, the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, the Asian Development Bank, and the Eurasia Foundation.