Stop Meddling in My Country! Governments’ Restrictions on Foreign Aid to Non-Governmental Organizations

44 Pages Posted: 23 Nov 2014

See all articles by Kendra Dupuy

Kendra Dupuy

University of Washington - Department of Political Science

James Ron

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities; Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE) - Division of International Studies

Aseem Prakash

University of Washington - Department of Political Science

Date Written: November 23, 2014

Abstract

What motivates countries to enact laws that restrict foreign funding to domestically operating non-governmental organizations (NGOs)? We suggest governments often pass these laws to combat perceived foreign attempts to shape domestic politics. Political elites are not necessarily opposed to NGOs per se, but rather see foreign intrusion via funding to civil society as a threat to their political power. We test our argument using an original dataset of laws regulating foreign funding flows to domestically operating NGOs in 192 countries, from 1993 to 2012. Using an event history approach, we examine the onset of restrictive laws, and find that foreign aid flows are associated with an increased “risk” of restrictive law adoption. Domestic political conditions, moreover, substantially exacerbate this risk, as governments are more likely to pass restrictive laws during, or shortly after, competitive legislative or executive elections.

Keywords: NGOs, regulations, foreign funding, human rights, elections, development aid

Suggested Citation

Dupuy, Kendra and Ron, James and Prakash, Aseem, Stop Meddling in My Country! Governments’ Restrictions on Foreign Aid to Non-Governmental Organizations (November 23, 2014). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2529620 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2529620

Kendra Dupuy (Contact Author)

University of Washington - Department of Political Science ( email )

101 Gowen Hall
Box 353530
Seattle, WA 98195
United States

James Ron

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities ( email )

Minneapolis, MN
United States

Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE) - Division of International Studies ( email )

Mexico City
Mexico

Aseem Prakash

University of Washington - Department of Political Science ( email )

101 Gowen Hall
Box 353530
Seattle, WA 98195
United States

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