Based on the experience of donors in Bangladesh over the past 10 years, we can conclude that efforts to strengthen civil society and thereby democratization by providing resources to NGOs in the developing world are likely to have some unintended and negative results. From the pluralist perspective, the ''Civil Society Empowerment'' initiative is likely to increase antagonism and noncooperation between NGOs and mainline civil society actors, while from a radical point of view, support for NGOs is likely to undermine their willingness to serve as social mobilizers. Suggested remedies are offered to mitigate these dual tendencies.