Corridors of Power: The Institutional Design of North–South NGO Partnerships

Abstract

Power asymmetries within partnerships between Northern and Southern NGOs are thought to be undesirable. Based on a comparative case study of the partnerships between three Northern NGOs and their Southern partners in Ghana, India and Nicaragua, this study examines how the partnerships' institutional design affects local partners' room to manoeuvre. It is demonstrated that (1) the Northern agencies unilaterally set the rules that govern the partnerships, based on their own norms, values and beliefs; (2) similarities and differences between the rules of the three agencies can, above all, be attributed to the corresponding and diverging nature of their norms, values and beliefs; and (3) informal rules allow more flexibility in their use. Whether this is beneficial for the Southern partners' room to manoeuvre depends on individual project officers, who are responsible for interpreting and applying the rules, and the partners' ability to conduct negotiations.Re ´sume ´Les asyme ´tries de pouvoir dans les partenariats entre agences d'aide prive ´es et ONG des pays du sud sont juge ´es inde ´sirables. Base ´e sur une e ´tude comparative des partenariats entre trois agences d'aide prive ´es et leurs partenaires au Ghana, en Inde et au Nicaragua, cette e ´tude examine l'impact de l'organisation institutionnelle de ces partenariats sur les marges de manoeuvre des partenaires locaux. Il est de ´montre ´que (1) les agences fixent unilate ´ralement les re `gles gouvernant les partenariats en fonction de leurs propres normes, valeurs, et croyances, (2) les similarite ´s et les diffe ´rences entre les re `gles des trois agences peuvent e ˆtre principalement attribue ´es a `la convergence et divergence de leurs normes, valeurs, et croyances, (3) les re `gles informelles peuvent e ˆtre utilise ´es avec plus de flexibilite´.

Power in and over Cross-Sector Partnerships: Actor Strategies for Shaping Collective Decisions

“…Exercising power over CSPs is possible through setting the rules of the game for a partnership, e.g., by defining the substantive scope, by selecting the actors, or by setting decision-making rules (Elbers and Schulpen 2013). As such, an important part of the power game relates to actors' efforts to manipulate the rules to their advantage and thereby indirectly influencing the partnership game.…”

“…While cross-sector partnerships are sometimes depicted as a pragmatic 'problem solving' arrangements devoid of politics and power, they are characterized by power dynamics (Elbers and Schulpen 2013;Hardy and Phillips 1998;Hendriks 2009;Purdy 2012). Actors in partnerships tend to differ in terms of their control over resources while their interests are diverse and the stakes are high.…”

Explaining Levels of Local Government Involvement in Service Delivery: The Dynamics of Cross-Sector Partnerships in Malawi

“…Our findings show how converging and diverging strategies and interests (Najam, ; Brinkerhoff, ; Johnson and Wilson, ) fuel an ongoing negotiation and shifting of power between partners. Although it is true that power imbalances can undermine the necessary mutuality for genuine cross‐sector partnerships (Brinkerhoff and Brinkerhoff, , ), actors nevertheless always have ‘room to manoeuvre’ as they exercise strategic choice about how to respond to these power imbalances (Elbers and Arts, ; Elbers and Schulpen, ). Trust, behavioural norms and individual actors therefore play a critical role in structuring the partnership (Lister, ; Gazley, ).…”

“…In so doing, it sheds some light on how the ‘rules of the game’ for service delivery in developing countries are collectively shaped between governments, businesses and NGOs (Fowler, , p. 3). From this perspective, the governance of cross‐sector partnerships must be understood as an effortful and ongoing process of co‐construction between partners (Brass, ; Elbers and Schulpen, ). As Brass () has argued, public government actors do not bear the sole responsibility of successful partnerships, and governance should instead be ‘seen as a shared or networked process among several types of organisations’ (p. 228).…”

North–South partnerships for sustainable energy: Knowledge–power relations in development assistance for renewable energy

“…In the literature, the term 'partnership' tends to refer to long-term alliances with a certain degree of mutuality and reciprocal accountability; empirical research into NGO partnerships in development cooperation, however, suggests that many partnerships actually resemble donor-client relationships characterised by strong power differentials (Ashman, 2001;Elbers and Schulpen, 2013;Fowler, 2000;Lister, 2000;Mawdsley et al, 2002). The management of partnerships for the transfer of environmentally sound technologies has been found to be intrinsically difficult (Morsink et al, 2011).…”