Only abstract. Paper copies of master’s theses are listed in the Helka database (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Electronic copies of master’s theses are either available as open access or only on thesis terminals in the Helsinki University Library.Vain tiivistelmä. Sidottujen gradujen saatavuuden voit tarkistaa Helka-tietokannasta (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Digitaaliset gradut voivat olla luettavissa avoimesti verkossa tai rajoitetusti kirjaston opinnäytekioskeilla.Endast sammandrag. Inbundna avhandlingar kan sökas i Helka-databasen (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Elektroniska kopior av avhandlingar finns antingen öppet på nätet eller endast tillgängliga i bibliotekets avhandlingsterminaler.This thesis analyses the relationships between non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the state in Finland and in Africa with an emphasis on Kenya taking in mind major aspects of State in the cases. In order to realise this objective, a discussion of state, civil society and theories of non-profit organisations (NPOs) has been done. The thesis has traced the historical development of voluntary organisations (VOs), vis a vis that of state, thereby outlining a genuine platform of significant precedent. The thesis is divided into three overall chapters. Chapter one, divided in three sections, captures a theoretical appraisal of the state, civil society, where issues of terminology and concepts are defined, and the theories of NPOS, given that NGOs are accorded an, especially certain, economic, political, social and cultural value; chapter two examines how the relations develop within the Finnish (Scandinavian) welfare state; and chapter three investigates developing democracies and NGOs in the sub-Sahara with special emphasis/cases from Kenya. 'Further perspectives' are added calling on responsible conduct of governmentality. One of the most interesting finding is that state development in both Finland and Africa is closely associated with VOs. Emerging as protest movements prior to independence, VOs helped consolidate cultural-political capital which was instrumental in founding the state, especially in Africa. However, in the event of the founding of the welfare-state project in Finland, and the nationbuilding project in Africa, VOs were hijacked in the name of nationalism. The Scandinavian welfare state mainly displaced civil society with its universal suffrage schemes of 'social security'. The one-party structures of African weak governments mainly produced an underground sector that was terrorised and victimised in the name of 'national/state security'. In the Scandinavian welfare model, however, faced with incompetence and the surfacing of poverty and social exclusion, and new economical/fiscal realities, a dialogue is emerging where NGOs, albeit heavily state-dependent, play a complementary or collaborative role but not as equal partners. In the sub-Sahara, on the other hand, complex relations hang precariously between two extremes: adversarial and collaborative. In both cases, elaborate opportunity structures and circumstances, vulgarised by 'global'/regional processes exist. In both cases, an extensive surveillance/control-of-society mechanism is exacted. State-NGO relations are embryonic of society's primary concern with power, democracy, resources and control. Thus, any understanding of state-society relations must begin here, especially on the delimitation of space, obviously a political issue. The theoretical construct of this work starts with the view that the state is a first, but not necessarily the last, actor. The conduct of society is eschewed in governmental rationality in which an art/technique of State, stealth (welfare) or otherwise (weak), ultimately defines relational frameworks. This thesis is a theoretical apparatus and has resulted from an extensive review of government acts, academic texts, books and articles, a small group of which is published in the Internet. Many authors, eg., Alan Fowler, Michael Bratton, Immanuel Wallerstein, Stephen Ndegwa, Martti Siisiäinen, Tore Modeen, Matti Heikkilä, Henry Hansmann, Lester Salamon, Goran Hyden, Anthony Giddens, Reinhard Bendix, Marvine Olsen, David Hulme and Michael Edwards, and Stein Kuhnle and Per Selle, as well as over two hundred others, are discussed through the pages
