In 1990, the number of non-governmental organizations totaled about 9,000 (Non-Governmental Order). Today, that number is at 26,000, while other larger numbers are floating around, such as about 44,000 (Stein). Non-governmental organizations are becoming the key players in all areas of politics, including international relations. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how NGOs (non-governmental organizations) are rising in power over not only the state actors, but also the intergovernmental organizations in the world, such as the United Nations and the World Bank. As the power of NGOs over international politics continues to rise, both negative and positive consequences are sure to arise, spawning from both their intentions and their often narrow-mindedness. While the governments in the world still have the final say as to what goes on, the NGOs of today are always on the minds of Congress members by applying pressure to get what they want.

In the early 1960s, Pope John XXIII’s criticism of an authoritarian regime during the Vatican II council helped lead to the democratization of Spain in 1976 (University of Durham). A great amount of pressure was put on King Juan Ca

The President’s War on Terror through the Bush Doctrine has also revealed a glaring weakness in another power in the international arena, the intergovernmental organization (IGO). In his article in Foreign Affairs, John Ikenberry describes America after the Doctrine as being “…less bound to its partners and to global rules and institutions while it steps forward to play a more unilateral and anticipatory role in attacking terrorist threats and confronting rogue states seeking weapons of mass destruction”. What this means is that not only is the United States changing its policies as well as its relationships with international institutions, but that these institutions are becoming weaker in power. These institutions are the IGOs in the world, including the United Nations (UN). The world’s most powerful state, the US, has exploited the United Nations as well as other IGOs for their inability to enforce policies in the international anarchy. Without its consent, the United States went in and invaded Iraq. Why did they invade Iraq? Possibly because of an NGO.

When it comes down to it, IGOs such as the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) do not have enough power to take some of the sovereignty from its member nations. Where this may work, however, is in the European Union. This supranational IGO has member states who have given up some of their powers to the organization as a whole. This is seen by the successful European Court of Justice. However, until the United Nations has the ability to enforce some of its policies on member states, the power of it and others similar to it is limited. Thanks to freedom of speech and the freedom to hold meetings that many states give their people, the power of an NGO is very potent, and without many boundaries. States can sometimes ignore IGOs but cannot shut the door on the voice of the NGO. Thanks to well organized NGOs that banded together, the Seattle World Trade meetings accomplished very little (Non-Governmental Order).

While representatives and senators have their own web pages, the NGOs use their significant resources to communicate to citizens in more powerful ways. An organization such as Greenpeace has over 2.8 million supporters worldwide (Greenpeace.org). Their members effectively use emails and phone calls to voice their positions to governmental organizations, media and public citizens. Many people are now willing to let their voice be heard, holding their representatives accountable when decisions are made. While there are 2.8 million official supporters for Greenpeace, it would be no stretch to imagine the amount of actual supporters far exceeds that amount. Legislators are not simply just worried about getting the organizations off of their b

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