Strategies of Russian NGOs to engage in social policy implementation

Although the Russian regime considers civil society to be a threat to its authority, social NGOs are positively viewed by state institutions at all levels. Unlike human rights organisations and political activists, socially oriented third sector organisations are not typically criticised by the propaganda machine. On contrary, these NGOs currently play a crucial role in social policy implementation in Russia. By analysing the trajectories of state-third sector relations of 18 Saint-Petersburg-based non-governmental elderly care organisations, the article characterises three ways in which NGOs approach relationships with the state: NGOs which support state policy by being part of it, NGOs which supplement state policies in spheres the state fails to address appropriately, and NGOs which substitute for the state, in some cases exercising power over local state social services.