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The Rise of International Nongovernmental Organizations: A Top-Down or Bottom-Up Explanation?

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Abstract

This study examines the conditions that facilitate the growth of international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) in 126 countries, from 1982 to 2000. To explain the uneven growth of INGOs around the world, I test two competing theoretical approaches. The “top-down” perspective of growth focuses on the degree of a country’s integration into the world polity and international economy. The “bottom-up” perspective emphasizes the development of democracy and the prosperity of the domestic economy as significant factors in facilitating INGO growth within a given country. An econometric analysis of panel data with ordinary least squares (OLS) suggests that both economic and political factors at the global and national level explain the rise of INGOs, rather than viewing either in an isolated fashion.

Résumé

Cette étude examine les conditions qui facilitent le développement des organisations internationales non gouvernementales (OING) dans 126 pays, de 1982 à 2000. Afin d’expliquer la croissance inégale des OING à travers le monde, j’utilise à titre expérimental deux approches théoriques concurrentes. L’approche dite « descendante » de la croissance met l’accent sur le degré d’intégration du pays dans le système institutionnel mondial et l’économie internationale. L’approche dite « ascendante » souligne le développement de la démocratie et la prospérité de l’économie nationale en tant que facteurs essentiels facilitant l’essor des OING dans un pays donné. Il ressort de l’analyse économétrique des données de panel réalisée avec la méthode des moindres carrés (MMC) que des facteurs à la fois économiques et politiques aux niveaux national et mondial, plutôt que de les étudier séparément, viennent expliquer le développement des OING.

Zusammenfassung

Diese Studie untersucht die Bedingungen, die das Wachstum internationaler nicht-staatlicher Organisationen in 126 Ländern im Zeitraum von 1982 bis 2000 ermöglichten. Zur Erklärung des weltweit ungleichen Wachstums der internationalen nicht-staatlichen Organisationen werden zwei konkurrierende Theorieansätze getestet. Die „Top-down”-Wachstumsperspektive konzentriert sich auf das Ausmaß der Integration eines Landes in der Weltgesellschaft und der internationalen Wirtschaft. Die „Bottom-up”-Perspektive betont die Entwicklung der Demokratie und den Wohlstand der inländischen Wirtschaft als bedeutende Faktoren zur Förderung des Wachstums internationaler nicht-staatlicher Organisationen in einem Land. Eine ökonometrische Analyse von Paneldaten mittels der Methode der kleinsten Quadrate (ordinary least squares, OLS) deutet darauf hin, dass sowohl die wirtschaftlichen als auch politischen Faktoren auf globaler und nationaler Ebene den Anstieg internationaler nicht-staatlicher Organisationen erklären und nicht getrennt voneinander betrachtet werden sollten.

Resumen

El presente estudio analiza las condiciones que han facilitado la proliferación de organizaciones internacionales no gubernamentales (OING) en 126 países, desde 1982 a 2000. Para explicar el desigual crecimiento de las OING en todo el mundo, pongo a prueba dos enfoques teóricos contradictorios: la perspectiva descendente del crecimiento, que se centra en el grado de integración de un país en la política mundial y en la economía internacional; y la perspectiva ascendente, que enfatiza el desarrollo de la democracia y la prosperidad de la economía doméstica como factores importantes a la hora de facilitar la aparición de OING dentro de un país determinado. Un análisis econométrico de datos de panel con mínimos cuadrados ordinarios sugiere que los factores económicos y políticos, tanto internacionales como nacionales, permiten explicar mejor la proliferación de OING que si las consideramos de forma aislada.

摘要

本研究探讨了从 1982 到 2000 年间在 126 个国家中促进国际非政府组织(英语缩写 INGO)增长的条件。为了解释全球 INGO 不均匀增长的情况,我检验了两个相互竞争的理论方法 。 “自上而下”增长观点的重点在于一个国家融入世界政体和国际经济的程度。 “自下而上”的观点则强调在一个给定国家中,民主发展和国内经济繁荣是促进 INGO 增长的重要因素。用普通最小二乘法(英语缩写 OLS)对专家小组数据进行的经济计量分析表明,在全球和国家一级,只有经济和政治因素两者同时计入方能解释 INGO 的兴起,并不能以孤立的方式仅看待任何一个。

ملخص:

تبحث هذه الدراسة في الظروف التي تيسر نمو المنظمات الغير حكومية الدولية(INGOs) في 126 بلد، من 1982 حتي 2000. لشرح النمو الغير متكافئ للمنظمات الدولية الغير حكومية(INGOs) في جميع أنحاء العالم ، وأنا أقوم بإختبار اثنين من نهج النظريات المتنافسة. “من أعلى إلى أسفل” منظور النمو يركز على درجة من التكامل في أي بلد في كيان العالم السياسي والاقتصاد الدولي. “من أسفل إلى أعلى” منظور يؤكد على تنمية الديمقراطية والإزدهار للإقتصاد المحلي كعوامل هامة في تسهيل نمو المنظمات الدولية الغير لحكومية(INGO) داخل بلد معين. تحليل اقتصادي قياسي للوحة البيانات مع المربعات الصغرى العادية (OLS) يقترح أن كلاً من العوامل الاقتصادية والسياسية على المستويين العالمي والوطني يفسر صعود المنظمات الغير حكومية الدولية(INGOs)، بدلا من النظر بطريقة منعزلة.

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Notes

  1. INGO data in the UIA Yearbook has several virtues. First, the number of INGOs includes not only advocacy INGOs (e.g., Green Peace), but also INGOs organizations with technical specialties or small professional associations (e.g., International Council of Chemical Trade Association). The data reflects how a country is connected to international civil society, including advocacy INGOs, as well as special technical INGOs. Second, the Yearbook is the only source of reliable time-series and cross-sectional panel data on the number of INGOs.

  2. The strength of domestic civil society must be a critical factor explaining countries’ association with INGOs. However, unfortunately, there is no comprehensive measure for domestic civil society strength that covers the present sampling of cases, 126 countries over 20 years. While the CIVICUS project (2007) addresses various indicators of domestic civil society, it examines only 44 countries, and it is not a longitudinal dataset. Thus, I use the Freedom House civil liberty index as a proxy of domestic civil society strength. See more in the Data section.

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Acknowledgments

I am grateful for comments from Aseem Prakash, Christopher Adolph, Katherine Bank, Hsiaochi Hsu, Karen Litfin, Peter May, and Christi Siver. I am also indebted to participants and discussants at the 48th Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association.

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  1. Department of Political Science, University of Washington, Box 353530, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA

    Taedong Lee

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Lee, T. The Rise of International Nongovernmental Organizations: A Top-Down or Bottom-Up Explanation?. Voluntas 21, 393–416 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-010-9137-5

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