NGO Advocacy, Information, and Domestic Democracy

• In Event: Transnational Interest Group Effects on Democracy and Sustainability

Abstract

Information availability shapes what NGOs know about themselves (and their environment) as well as their ability to achieve their goals. The institutions and regulations that shape NGO reporting to government, and what information is released back to them (i.e. their data environment), thus forms a type of political opportunity structure. This paper examines when information availability is better at the national versus international level, and the implications this has for democratization and interest group influence. IR literature has an increasing interest in data politics and information availability, including the ability of actors to engage in illicit activities or protect human rights, and government incentives regarding information. Data environments depend on governments’ strategic concerns, namely whether civil society provides benefits or threats. Governments regulate NGOs to reduce their challenge or ensure NGO objectives align with government goals and interests. At the global level, the Open Government Partnership (OGP) and the increasing activist OECD and UN encourage open data and metadata standards, suggesting IOs may increase NGO information availability. Most data, however, is generated at national levels from government sources with more coercive authority. We compare the specific types of information collected and reported about NGOs across countries and IOs to understand the effects of information availability on interest group influence at national and domestic levels. Using data on 40 countries in the Global Registry of Nonprofit Data Sources (GRNDS) we focus on the gap between information collected and reported, i.e. information asymmetry between NGOs and governments, and link this to domestic democracy. Better knowledge of NGO data environments is necessary for NGOs to advocate for improvements in democracy, both in national and global arenas, which in turn helps organizations to hold governments accountable.

Authors

• Elizabeth Bloodgood, Concordia University

• Sarah S. Stroup, Middlebury College

• Wendy H. Wong, University of Toronto