This book investigates how nongovernmental organizations can become stronger advocates for citizens and better representatives of their interests.

Sabine Lang is Associate Professor of International and European Studies at the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies of the University of Washington. She is Director of the Center for West European Studies at UW. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the Free University in Berlin and has held previous teaching positions at the University of Leipzig and at the J. F. Kennedy-Institute of the Free University Berlin, Germany. Her areas of research are gender politics and comparative politics with an emphasis on NGOs and coalition building among transnational movements. Her latest book NGOs, Civil Society, and the Public Sphere was published by Cambridge University Press in 2013 and she contributes to journals such as femina politica, European Journal for Women's Issues, Publius, and German Politics.

1. David or Goliath? Situating NGOs in politics; 2. Civil society as a public sphere; 3. The NGOization of civil society; 4. Limits to NGO advocacy in the public sphere; 5. Urban development advocacy in the United States and Germany; 6. Transnational women's NGO networks in the European Union; 7. NGOs navigating inclusion in governance and public accountabilities; Appendix A. Interviews for Chapter 5; Appendix B. Interviews for Chapter 6; Appendix C. Website analysis for Chapter 6; Appendix D. Issue crawler figures for Chapter 6.