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

Pallas, Christopher L.

doi:10.3402/egp.v3i3.4882

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…These works help establish the problems with INGO representation and responsiveness and establish such problems as impacting the legitimacy of INGOs. For most authors, the focus on INGO accountability reflects a belief that INGO ought to act on behalf of the constituency they claim to represent; they connect this to the idea of democratic legitimacy (e.g., Pallas 2010b;Scholte 2004;cf. Ebrahim 2007).…”

Section: Ingos and Legitimacymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Do the Right Thing: The Impact of INGO Legitimacy Standards on Stakeholder Input

2014

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International nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) are frequently criticized for failing to adequately represent or engage with grassroots stakeholders. Yet most explanations of this shortcoming have focused on factors external to the organizations, e.g., economic pressures that privilege donor interests. What has been largely lacking is an examination of the role of internal INGO characteristics. We address this by examining INGOs' legitimacy standards: how INGOs understand themselves to be doing the right thing and seek to convey that righteousness to others. Drawing on the literature from business ethics and organizational behavior, we show that organizations' self-selected standards of legitimacy are key drivers of behavior. Using an analysis of 57 American INGO websites, we identify 11 legitimacy types and examine their usage. We find that while most INGOs make a series of technical legitimacy claims that seem designed to attract donors, they simultaneously employ additional legitimacy standards that do not seem to be externally dictated. These additional standards generally prioritize adherence to a cause rather than stakeholder input. The findings suggest that challenges to INGO representivity or responsiveness result not only from external pressures, but also from INGOs' own choice of values.Résumé Les organisations non gouvernementales (ONG) internationales sont souvent critiquées pour leur échec à représenter de manière adéquate ou à collaborer avec les milieux populaires. Cependant, la plupart des explications données à ce problème se concentrent sur des facteurs externes aux organisations, par exemple la pression économique qui privilégie les intérêts des donateurs. L'analyse du rôle que jouent les caractéristiques des ONG internationales est quant à elle inexistante. Nous corrigeons cela en examinant les standards de légitimité des ONG internationales, c'est-à-dire la manière dont ces organisations se convainquent qu'elles prennent les bonnes décisions et cherchent à porter cette vérité aux autres. À partir de la littérature portant sur l'éthique des affaires et le comportement organisationnel, nous montrons que les standards de légitimité choisis par les organisations sont les éléments clé qui dictent leur comportement. Grâce à une analyse de 57 sites web d'ONG internationales américaines, nous avons identifié 11 types de légitimités et examiné leur usage : nous avons découvert qu'alors que la plupart des ONG internationales exposent une série de revendications de légitimité d'ordre technique qui semblent destinées à attirer les donateurs, elles font simultanément appel à d'autres standards de légitimité qui ne semblent pas dictés de l'extérieur. Ces autres standards donnent en général plus d'importance à l'adhésion à une cause qu'à la contribution des parties prenantes. Ce constat suggère que les défis posés à la représentativité ou à la réactivité des ONG internationales résultent non seulement de pressions externes, mais aussi des choix de valeurs propres à ces organisations.Zusammenfassung Inte...

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Section: Ingos and Legitimacymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Uhlin (2010), for instance, develops a metric for assessing the democratic legitimacy of transnational actors. Pallas (2010b) uses this metric to develop contextual-based standards from judging INGO behavior. Acting on implicit standards for legitimate INGO behavior, other works focus on reforming INGO conduct.…”

Section: Ingos and Legitimacymentioning

confidence: 99%

Do the Right Thing: The Impact of INGO Legitimacy Standards on Stakeholder Input

2014

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Context, Role, and Legitimacy

Pallas

2013

Transnational Civil Society and the World Bank

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The limits of proceduralism: Critical remarks on the rise of ‘throughput legitimacy’

Steffek

2018

Public Administration

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‘Throughput legitimacy’ is among the most successful conceptual innovations that scholars of public policy and administration have produced in recent years. I argue that this new understanding of legitimacy needs to be seen in the context of an increasing proceduralism in political science and public administration. Throughput legitimacy attracted so much attention because it is the perfect normative companion to the analytical concept of governance. Governance is procedure, and throughput legitimacy tells us what good procedures are. In my critical discussion of this innovation I examine the analytical value of the concept, as well as its normative and practical implications. I argue that, regarding concept formation, throughput legitimacy may enrich existing typologies of legitimacy but at the same time has a severe problem of fuzzy borders. Politically, throughput legitimacy lends itself to apologetic uses when it is applied as a tailor‐made normative standard for technocratic, non‐majoritarian institutions.

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

Cited by 3 publications

References 50 publications

Do the Right Thing: The Impact of INGO Legitimacy Standards on Stakeholder Input

Do the Right Thing: The Impact of INGO Legitimacy Standards on Stakeholder Input

Context, Role, and Legitimacy

The limits of proceduralism: Critical remarks on the rise of ‘throughput legitimacy’

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