NGOs (Non-governmental organizations) are increasingly becoming an important force, in part because of claims that they are efficient and effective, because they are innovative, flexible, independent, and responsive to the problems of poor people at the grass-roots level. The growth of such NGOs over the past two decades has given them an increasingly important role and has led them forming a distinctive sector within civil society. They have been engaged in all sectors of social life, such as relief, rehabilitation, health, education, development programs, peace, human rights, and environmental issues, using finance raised from voluntary, private sources, and donor agencies, and managing themselves autonomously at local, national and international levels. This paper will review the literature on NGOs and civil society, then consider development NGOs in particular, in the context of the recent dominance of the neo-liberal policy agenda. We shall assess the extent to which such NGOs can promote participation in development.