This text summarizes a series of concepts merely referred to by national press in recent years: civil society, NGOs, third sector, Law for CSOs of Public Interest, public policy councils - what are they, for the ordinary reader? In simple language, the authors highlight moments of the political trajectory of Brazilian NGOs and explain the niche they occupy in the broader nonprofit sector. They discuss the particular role NGOs have played in the struggle to democratize education, and the very present dilemma put by current governmental push to privatize constitutional duties.