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Hands Off My Regime! Governments’ Restrictions on Foreign Aid to Non-Governmental Organizations in Poor and Middle-Income Countries

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  • Dupuy, Kendra
  • Ron, James
  • Prakash, Aseem

Abstract

Many resource-strapped developing country governments seek international aid, but when that assistance is channeled through domestic civil society, it can threaten their political control. As a result, in the last two decades, 39 of the world’s 153 low- and middle-income countries have adopted laws restricting the inflow of foreign aid to domestically operating nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Governments recognize that such laws harm their international reputations for supporting democracy and may invite donor punishment in terms of aid reductions. Yet, they perceive foreign aid to NGOs as supporting political opponents and threatening their grip on power. In the aftermath of competitive electoral victories, governments often take new legal steps to limit these groups’ funding. We test this argument on an original dataset of laws detailing the regulation of foreign aid inflows to domestically operating NGOs in 153 low- and middle-income countries for the period 1993–2012. Using an event history approach, we find that foreign aid flows are associated with an increased risk of restrictive law adoption; a log unit increase in foreign aid raises the probability of adoption by 6.7%. This risk is exacerbated after the holding of competitive elections: the interaction of foreign aid and competitive elections increases the probability of adoption by 11%.

Suggested Citation

  • Dupuy, Kendra & Ron, James & Prakash, Aseem, 2016. "Hands Off My Regime! Governments’ Restrictions on Foreign Aid to Non-Governmental Organizations in Poor and Middle-Income Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 299-311.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:84:y:2016:i:c:p:299-311
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2016.02.001
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    Cited by:

    1. Anheier Helmut K. & Toepler Stefan, 2019. "Policy Neglect:The True Challenge to the Nonprofit Sector," Nonprofit Policy Forum, De Gruyter, vol. 10(4), pages 1-9, December.
    2. Alisa Moldavanova & Tamaki Onishi & Stefan Toepler, 2023. "Civil society and democratization: The role of service‐providing organizations amid closing civic spaces," Public Administration & Development, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 43(1), pages 3-13, February.
    3. Anheier, Helmut K. & Lang, Markus & Toepler, Stefan, 2018. "Civil society in times of change: Shrinking, changing and expanding spaces and the need for new regulatory approaches," Economics Discussion Papers 2018-80, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    4. Anheier, Helmut K. & Lang, Markus & Toepler, Stefan, 2019. "Civil society in times of change: Shrinking, changing and expanding spaces and the need for new regulatory approaches," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 13, pages 1-27.
    5. Katz Hagai & Gidron Benjamin, 2022. "Encroachment and Reaction of Civil Society in Non-liberal Democracies: The Case of Israel and the New Israel Fund," Nonprofit Policy Forum, De Gruyter, vol. 13(3), pages 229-250, July.
    6. Philipp Kruse & Florian Rosing, 2023. "An Experimental Investigation of Perceived Differences in Personality and Leadership Attributes of Social Entrepreneurs Compared to for Profit Entrepreneurs and Non-Profit Organisations Leaders," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 32(1), pages 75-110, March.
    7. Philipp Kruse, 2021. "Exploring International and Inter-Sector Differences of Social Enterprises in the UK and India," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-18, May.
    8. Appe Susan & Barragán Daniel & Telch Fabian, 2019. "Organized Civil Society Under Authoritarian Populism: Cases from Ecuador," Nonprofit Policy Forum, De Gruyter, vol. 10(3), pages 1-12, October.
    9. Gore, Christopher D. & Brass, Jennifer N. & Baldwin, Elizabeth & MacLean, Lauren M., 2019. "Political autonomy and resistance in electricity sector liberalization in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 193-209.
    10. Philipp Kruse & Eleanor Meda Chipeta & Imke Ueberschär, 2023. "What Keeps Social Entrepreneurs Happy? Exploring Personality, Work Design, External Support, and Social Impact as Resources of Social Entrepreneurs’ Mental Well-Being," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-23, February.
    11. Brass, Jennifer N. & Longhofer, Wesley & Robinson, Rachel S. & Schnable, Allison, 2018. "NGOs and international development: A review of thirty-five years of scholarship," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 136-149.
    12. Goncharenko, Galina & Khadaroo, Iqbal, 2020. "Disciplining human rights organisations through an accounting regulation: A case of the ‘foreign agents’ law in Russia," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    13. Márton Gerő & Anna Fejős & Szabina Kerényi & Dorottya Szikra, 2023. "From Exclusion to Co-Optation: Political Opportunity Structures and Civil Society Responses in De-Democratising Hungary," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(1), pages 16-27.
    14. DeMattee Anthony J., 2018. "Toward a Coherent Framework: A Typology and Conceptualization of CSO Regulatory Regimes," Nonprofit Policy Forum, De Gruyter, vol. 9(4), pages 1-17, December.
    15. Bimal Adhikari & Jeffrey King & Lie Philip Santoso, 2024. "The limits of shame: UN shaming, NGO repression, and women's protests," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 41(3), pages 197-217, May.
    16. Levi, Sebastian & Goldberg, Matthew H., 2021. "Democracy influences climate change concern," SocArXiv 6vk9d, Center for Open Science.
    17. Strachwitz Rupert Graf & Toepler Stefan, 2022. "Contested Civic Spaces in Liberal Democracies," Nonprofit Policy Forum, De Gruyter, vol. 13(3), pages 179-193, July.
    18. Kendra Dupuy & Luc Fransen & Aseem Prakash, 2021. "Restricting NGOs: From Pushback to Accommodation," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 12(S5), pages 5-10, July.
    19. Leininger, Julia, 2022. "International democracy promotion in times of autocratization: From supporting to protecting democracy," IDOS Discussion Papers 21/2022, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    20. Luc Fransen & Kendra Dupuy & Marja Hinfelaar & Sultan Mohammed Zakaria Mazumder, 2021. "Tempering Transnational Advocacy? The Effect of Repression and Regulatory Restriction on Transnational NGO Collaborations," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 12(S5), pages 11-22, July.
    21. Allison Carnegie & Lindsay R. Dolan, 2021. "The effects of rejecting aid on recipients’ reputations: Evidence from natural disaster responses," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 495-519, July.
    22. Dasandi, Niheer & Erez, Lior, 2023. "The flag and the stick: Aid suspensions, human rights, and the problem of the complicit public," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).

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