Moldavanova, AlisaOnishi, TamakiToepler, Stefan2023-04-212023-04-212023-02-04Moldavanova, A., Onishi, T., & Toepler, S. (2023). Civil society and democratization: The role of service-providing organizations amid closing civic spaces. Public Administration and Development, 43( 1), 3– 13. https://doi.org/10.1002/pad.20051099-162Xhttps://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/32665This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Moldavanova, A., Onishi, T., & Toepler, S. (2023). Civil society and democratization: The role of service-providing organizations amid closing civic spaces. Public Administration and Development, 43( 1), 3– 13. https://doi.org/10.1002/pad.2005, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/pad.2005. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited. This article will be embargoed until 02/04/2025.This article argues that current democracy promotion strategies relying on rights-claiming advocacy NGOs are falling short of their democratization goals, as authoritarian regimes are closing the space through restrictions on the NGOs that attempt to carry them out. In response, we suggest a reexamination of earlier approaches to involving civil society in democratization efforts by shifting the focus back on service-providing civil society organizations that have largely become side-lined in democracy-building agendas. Specifically, service providers tend to be more capable of functioning “under the radar” thus contributing to democracy in both direct and indirect ways, and thus escaping closing space restrictions. The key concerns about their independence from the state, as well as under what conditions the state may be less successful in coopting the independent service-providers, however, remain unresolved and warrant future research.en-UScivil societydemocratizationdemocracy promotionservice-providing civil society organizationsNGOsclosing spaceArticle