A-4 What are the Factors that make the poor to seek help from Civil Societies over Public Institutions?

Buller Room 108

The literature suggests that legitimacy, legality, efficiency, effectiveness, and accessibility are key factors that motivate people to seek help from organizations to address their needs. We use these factors to determine why the poor choose civil society institutions over public institutions in Madagascar. We argue that the poor seek help from civil societies instead of public institutions because of the failure of public institutions to be legitimate, legal, efficient, effective, and accessible in comparison to civil society institutions. Data collected from Madagascar is analyzed using mixed research methods. We conclude the paper with a discussion about public institutional reform and capacity building of civil societies.