This book investigates how NGOs in authoritarian states, such as China, craft accountability and legitimacy to ensure their survival. It explores this through the lens of child welfare organisations from 2007 to 2017. The authors provide a fresh approach to accountability that is more attuned to the particular conditions of authoritarianism. The project explores the effects of power relations in shaping the hierarchies of accountability and participation that emerge and the attention given to different voices such as those of donor, government, and users. Essential reading for researchers and policy makers interested in development, NGO, social policy, political science, and child welfare studies.

Jude Howell is Professor in the Department of International Development at the London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom.Xiaoyuan Shang is Professor at Beijing Normal University, China and Associate Professor at University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia.Karen R Fisher is Professor in the Social Policy Research Centre at the University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia.