New Insights on NGOs in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

Across Africa, local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are expected to play a pivotal role in holding governments accountable, providing crucial services, and building democratic culture amongst the population. To date, however, many questions about NGOs remain addressed. How does experience with NGOs condition political behavior? When can NGO leadership behavior alter citizen uptake of democratic values? Why would governments restrict NGO humanitarian activities? When can NGOs foster social cohesion in hard-to-reconcile communities?
This panel addresses such questions with data from across the continent. Cloward and Weghorst examine the political behavior of “NGO-legislators”, elected officials with prior NGO experience from 15 countries and through an in-depth study in Kenya. Davis interrogates citizen preference for NGO leader behavior in post-conflict Côte d’Ivoire. Grossman examines how NGOs respond to government restrictions on humanitarian aid, drawing from interviews and surveys of aid professionals in Niger. Wai analyzes the role local farmer associations have in reducing conflict between refugee and host populations in Northern Uganda. Finally, Tellez et al. show how interventions aimed at increasing social cohesion among Ethiopian youths can increase civil society engagement.

Sub Unit

• Division 53: African Politics

Individual Presentations

• Citizen and NGO Relations in Post-conflict Côte d’Ivoire - Justine Davis, University of Michigan

• Maybe in My Backyard: How Refugee-Host Cooperation Promotes Peace and Prosperity - Rebecca Wai, University of Michigan

• Restricted Access: State Restrictions on Humanitarian NGOs - Allison Namias Grossman, Tulane University

• Political Tolerance & Civic Engagement: Evidence from an RCT in Ethiopia - Juan Fernando Tellez, University of California, Davis

• Governing for the Common Good: How NGO Workers Who Become Legislators Govern - Karisa Tritz Cloward, Southern Methodist University

Chair

• Jeremy Springman University of Pennsylvania

Discussants

• Jeremy Springman University of Pennsylvania

• Paul Friesen Cornell University