1st Edition
European Civil Society and International Development Aid Organisational Incentives and NGO Advocacy
This book explains how and why European non-governmental development organisations (NGDOs) engage in advocacy towards the European Union (EU).
It analyses the heterogenous structure of the sector, with examples ranging from large multinational networks to essentially single person NGDOs. The book provides a detailed map of the topics which have featured in NGDO advocacy since 2006, arguing that NGDOs have generally been reactive in their advocacy towards the EU. The author explains how they have contested a number of policy issues on the agendas of the EU institutions, especially around the diversion of aid to manage migration and leverage private sector investments. Furthermore, some NGDOs have used the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to re-package their pre-existing policy demands. Based on an analytical framework focused around three variables, namely moral vision, funding concerns, and the need to build/maintain a ‘good’ reputation, the book explains these advocacy choices, and argues that much of NGDO advocacy seems to be consistent with funding motivations. The author highlights the importance of moral vision and reputational concerns in moderating how far NGDOs will go with funding-driven advocacy, arguing that motivations need to be looked at in their complexity, and within the specific policy context.
Drawing on a range of quantitative and qualitative data sets to provide a rich and varied picture of the advocacy work of European development NGOs, European Civil Society and International Development Aid is a key reference for researchers and practitioners working in the field.
1. Introduction 2. The drivers of development NGO advocacy: Moral, reputational, and organisational concerns 3. The European development NGO community: History, actors, and approaches to advocacy 4. The contents of development NGO advocacy 5. Patterns of European NGDO funding 6. How do moral, reputational, and organisational incentives impact advocacy? 7. Funding versus advocacy: NGDO engagement with the EU Trust Fund for Africa 8. NGDO advocacy during the COVID-19 pandemic 9. Concluding thoughts
Biography
Balázs Szent-Iványi is a Reader in Politics and International Relations at Aston University, Birmingham, UK, and also holds an Associate Professor position at Corvinus University Budapest, Hungary. His research focuses on the political economy of foreign aid, with an emphasis on how foreign aid policy decisions are made in donor countries and the EU. His most recent research has been published in journals such as Third World Quarterly, International Relations, Development Policy Review, the European Journal of Development Research, International Migration, and Democratization.
"The past years have seen important changes in the motivations behind and various aims of the European Union’s development policy. This book makes an excellent contribution to the literature by analysing how European NGOs have contributed and responded to these policy changes."
Niels Keijzer, Senior Researcher, German Development Institute
