Democracy-Promotion in Côte d'Ivoire: Citizen Perceptions of Local NGOs

• In Event: Conferring and Challenging State Legitimacy through Citizenship

Abstract

In democratizing countries, local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) receive substantial donor funding to cultivate citizenship practice and legitimize newly democratic institutions through civic education campaigns and citizen advocacy projects. However, little research examines how these organizations are perceived in local contexts and whether these perceptions shape citizen experiences with the democratic process that these organizations hope to enhance.

This paper presents new evidence on citizen perceptions of local NGOs using survey and participant observation data from Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. I find that 55 percent of respondents believe NGOs in Cote d'Ivoire are partisan. Such popular beliefs are, in fact, inconsistent with the depiction of these organizations either by the theoretical literature or by international donors. Ivorians who view NGOs as partisan also evaluate NGOs negatively: they are more likely to agree that NGOs are only out to get international money, are less likely to agree that NGOs share their values, are less likely to believe NGOs have Ivorians’ best interests in mind, and are less trusting of NGOs.

Further, these individuals are less trusting of governing institutions, particularly believing that the Electoral Commission, national police, and army are not legitimate. Those who see NGOs as partisan also are less likely to believe the country is democratic or legitimate and, crucially, were less likely to desire to vote in the 2015 presidential elections.

During the 2015 voter registration campaign conducted by local NGOs, opposition supporters in particular expressed their distrust of these organizations and the electoral process’ ability to guarantee that their rights as citizens would be respected. The survey confirmed these qualitative findings, where opposition supporters were particularly likely to find NGOs to be partisan and untrustworthy actors.

This paper contributes to our understanding of the contribution of NGOs, in which the literature has neglected to consider the reality of citizens’ experiences. Understanding how NGOs are seen by the general public allows us to evaluate their true impact on democracy—through activities like political education, service provision, and human rights advocacy—from the perspective of citizens. Finding that perceptions of NGO partisanship and negative evaluations of NGOs go hand-in-hand and that there are certain populations who are more likely to see NGOs this way, is striking and is likely to impact NGOs' legitimacy, their ability to impact citizen beliefs in the legitimacy of the state, and the work they complete in these communities.

Author

• Justine Davis, University of California, Berkeley