Dictionary

quango en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈkwæŋ.ɡəʊ/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From the initial letters (the first two letters for the first word) of quasi-autonomous non-governmental organization. Coined by American president of the Carnegie Foundation Alan Pifer in 1967.

Meanings

1. (UK, derogatory, often) An organization that, although financed by a government, acts independently of it.
   • Various state committees and quangos had had stands; government and opposition ministers had attended. 2009, China Miéville, The City & The City:
   • The strongest link to the State, however, occurs with quangos, (quasi-NGOs), and the many umbrella groups that also thrive on State support. Many of the new parties realized after their Sturm und Drang years that they still needed regular contacts with the 'civil' world and that their civilian support base had been seriously eroded. 1998, Ferenc Miszlivetz; Katalin Ertsey, “Hungary: Civil Society in the Post-Socialist World”, in Alison van Rooy, editor, Civil Society and the Aid Industry: The Politics and Promise, London: Earthscan, OCLC ISBN 978-1-85383-553-7; republished as Civil Society and the Aid Industry (Earthscan Library Collection, Aid and Development; 3), London; Stirling, Va.: Earthscan, 2013, ISBN 978-1-84971-042-8, page 78

Forms

Deriveds

quangoland · quangoism · quangocracy · quangoization · quangocrat

Relateds

parastatal · NDPB · GONGO

Translations (7)

ru poluavtonomnaja nepravitelʹstvennaja organizácija (organization that, although financed by a government, acts independently of it) · sh kvazi-autonomna nevladina organizacija (organization that, although financed by a government, acts independently of it) · cy cwango (organization that, although financed by a government, acts independently of it) · ru кванго (organization that, although financed by a government, acts independently of it) · fr autorité administrative indépendante (organization that, although financed by a government, acts independently of it) · pl quango (organization that, although financed by a government, acts independently of it) · ru kvaziavtonomnaja nepravitelʹstvennaja organizácija (organization that, although financed by a government, acts independently of it)