Together Making a Difference: A Configurational Study of Nonprofit Advocacy Effectiveness

Configurational analysis of environmental NGOs and their influence on environmental policy in Turkey

“…In line with the literature, resources (Eising, 2007;Dür and Mateo, 2016), tactics, and venue-shopping (Bouwen, 2004;Beyers, 2004;Binderkrantz et al, 2014) are recognized as core variables significantly associated with policy influence. This multidimensionality of interest group influence cannot be explained by a single causal condition (Zhang and Guo, 2020). However, according to many scholars, the models used in most quantitative studies of interest group influence fail to capture the essence of the nature of lobbying, as many important variables are omitted from the majority of studies on this subject (Baumgartner and Leech, 1998;Lowery et al, 2012;Halpin and Jordan, 2012).…”

“…Researchers investigating ENGOs' policy influence have focused more on how ENGOs collectively shape environmental policies than comparisons of their relative influence. Influence in this context equates with effectiveness as described in the non-profit advocacy literature (e.g., Zhang and Guo, 2020). Unlike the literature on participation in advocacy, there is limited knowledge of the effectiveness of non-profit organizations' advocacy activities (Zhang and Guo, 2020).…”

“…Influence in this context equates with effectiveness as described in the non-profit advocacy literature (e.g., Zhang and Guo, 2020). Unlike the literature on participation in advocacy, there is limited knowledge of the effectiveness of non-profit organizations' advocacy activities (Zhang and Guo, 2020). The literature on interest group influence, however, presents extensive information that allows us to build a framework to explain why some ENGOs are influential and others are not.…”

“…ENGOs' tactics are complementary with material resources and reinforce each other, which is why the logic of combination becomes appropriate (Dür and Mateo, 2016). Nevertheless, with some important exceptions (see, for example, Colli, 2019Colli, , 2020Zhang and Guo, 2020), our knowledge of how these combined factors lead to advocacy success is limited. In other words, the manner in which these conditions interact to generate influence remains poorly understood.…”

No advocacy without representation? Nonprofit representational mix and nonprofit advocacy

“…Recent research has theorized and conceptualized such phenomena featuring multidimensionality as configurations (Fiss, 2007; Misangyi et al, 2017). Defined as a “multidimensional constellation of conceptually distinct characteristics that commonly occur together” (Meyer, Tsui, & Hinings, 1993, p. 1175), configurations have increasingly become a research focus in nonprofit studies (Hager & Brudney, 2015; Li, 2019; Zhang & Guo, 2019, 2020). Characterized by an assemblage or combination of interdependent parts, configurations involve complex cause–effect relationships in which “outcomes cannot be fully inferred from their constitutive parts analyzed in isolation” (Simon, 1996, p. 184).…”