Heroism and ambiguity: Ngo advocacy in international policy

Nelson, Paul J.

doi:10.1080/09614520050116622

Cited by 25 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…In 7 In principle, NGOs should cease to be credible if they no longer represent the desires or interests of their claimed stakeholders. In practice, NGOs' reputation for principled advocacy is often such that even when NGOs make inaccurate claims regarding the interests of their purported constituencies, they may still be perceived as trustworthy (Wade 2009;Nelson 2000). 8 Because all NGOs involved in monitoring are subject to the same state selection and conditions, we treat them as a single actor.…”

Section: Formal Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

NGO monitoring and the legitimacy of international cooperation: A strategic analysis

Pallas

Urpelainen

2011

Rev Int Organ

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States often invite NGOs to monitor international cooperation. Under what circumstances are states likely to take this step? We argue that NGO monitoring allows states to provide domestic publics with credible evidence regarding successful cooperation, but that this credibility carries a cost: if states fail to cooperate, a participating NGO will expose this failure and thus delegitimize the cooperation effort. Our formal analysis indicates that states obtain a dual benefit from NGO participation: in addition to enhanced legitimacy, NGO scrutiny helps states credibly commit to high cooperation levels vis-á-vis each other. The increased costs of failure, however, may deter state use of NGO monitoring. Surprisingly, we find that NGO monitoring is the most useful for states when the cooperation cost is relatively low. We explore the empirical relevance of our theoretical argument in NGO monitoring of World Bank development projects and compliance with the Kyoto Protocol. We also explain why NGO monitoring has been disallowed in the Global Environment Facility. Our analysis provides a firm strategic foundation for the idea that NGO participation sometimes confers benefits to states, and our theory has several empirically falsifiable implications.

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Section: Formal Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

NGO monitoring and the legitimacy of international cooperation: A strategic analysis

Pallas

Urpelainen

2011

Rev Int Organ

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“…A growing body of research has highlighted the role of international NGOs in initiating transnational campaigns. Nelson (2000), for instance, indicates that Christian Aid's consultations with local activists in Jamaica and the Philippines were strategic steps in a pre-existing, global campaign against structural adjustment that had only limited responsiveness to local input. Atkinson (2007) describes how Oxfam International first initiated a global campaign on workers' rights and then cultivated a local civil society movement in Sri Lanka that supported it.…”

Section: Limits To the Local-international-local Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Within the extant literature, at least six transnational campaigns initiated by Northern activists who recruited Southern NGOs are readily identifiable (Anderson 2000;Atkinson 2007;Harper 2001;Lindekilder 2008;Nelson 2000;Pallas 2013). 2 Therefore, rather than providing a novel case study or studies, this article examines a sample of the extant cases using the inverse boomerang model.…”

Section: The Inverse Boomerang In Actionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inverting the boomerang: examining the legitimacy of North–South–North campaigns in transnational advocacy

Pallas

2016

Global Networks

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The boomerang model is typically used to describe campaigns in which international NGOs respond to requests from local activists, often from marginalized populations, for assistance in addressing local needs. Such campaigns are perceived to represent local interests and have some accountability to local actors. However, while the local–international–local pattern is often accurate, it does not capture the full spectrum of campaign development. This article theorizes an international–local–international or ‘inverse’ boomerang, in which international NGOs facing an international policy blockage initiate a transnational campaign, recruiting local activists to assist in the international advocacy effort. The article demonstrates the theory's plausibility using several cases of Northern‐initiated advocacy. It then examines the implications of the model for campaign legitimacy. It finds that inverse boomerang campaigns benefit from the same presumptions of legitimacy as traditional boomerang campaigns, but that representivity and accountability are substantially weaker, potentially disempowering the campaigns' claimed stakeholders.

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“…Questions remained about CSOs' democratic credentials, particularly their accountability and transparency. 18 Other authors raised queries about whether CSOs could function democratically outside the boundaries of the state. 19 Still other works challenged constructivist assumptions about CSOs' autonomy from the state or material interests.…”

Section: Developing a Context-based Standard Of Democratic Legitimacymentioning

confidence: 99%

Revolutionary, advocate, agent, or authority: context-based assessment of the democratic legitimacy of transnational civil society actors

Pallas

2010

Ethics & Global Politics

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Heroism and ambiguity: Ngo advocacy in international policy

Cited by 25 publications

References 5 publications

NGO monitoring and the legitimacy of international cooperation: A strategic analysis

NGO monitoring and the legitimacy of international cooperation: A strategic analysis

Inverting the boomerang: examining the legitimacy of North–South–North campaigns in transnational advocacy

Revolutionary, advocate, agent, or authority: context-based assessment of the democratic legitimacy of transnational civil society actors

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