The Third Sector Laws in (Re)Democratizing Asia: Regressive or Progressive?

This panel is an effort by the APPIN partners to revisit the legal environment, in four of the twelve participating countries, after a decade. The panel authors have experiences in working for the Asia Pacific Philanthropy Information Network (APPIN; 2000-06) that also looked at the legal and institutional aspects of philanthropy and third sector activities. This panel includes presentations from four (re)democratizing countries in Asia: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines. All (political party) governments, in these countries, have been ‘reforming’ the regulatory system for the third sector organizations, in general. The question is: have these reforms been ‘regressive’ or ‘progressive’? The examples and discussions in this panel show that the laws have not been progressive, and conclude that more regulations are for not better outcomes; but for benefitting ‘us’, restricting ‘them’. Further, it seems that true associational revolution (with organizational democracy) will improve political and social conditions in these countries, not more laws or TSOs. The increase in the third sector capability need to be matched by membership organizations promoting competition of ideas and persons with horizontal self-regulatory mechanism. The third sector self-regulation, did not work because of the ‘us’ and ‘them’ divide in the past, but is important and must be introduced.