Stay or exit: How do international nongovernmental organizations respond to institutional pressures under authoritarianism?

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Li, Hui; Farid, May
• 署名单位: University of Hong Kong; University of Hong Kong
• 刊物名称: REGULATION & GOVERNANCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1748-5983
• DOI: 10.1111/rego.12473
• 发表日期: 2023
• 页码: 512-530
• 关键词: civil-society; ngos; ADVOCACY; POLICY; strategies

摘要

International nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) are increasingly important players in global politics and development. However, they are undergoing significant adaptations as governments worldwide have instituted restrictions to regulate their activities. What explains the various ways in which they respond to these institutional pressures? In our study of INGO responses to a new restrictive law in China, we identify four strategic responses with varying levels of compliance: legal registration, provisional strategy, localization, and exit. The institutional pressures-strategic responses link is influenced by INGOs' adaptive capacity, which is in turn shaped by an organization's issue sensitivity, value-add, government ties, and reputational authority. The integrated framework we develop for INGO strategic responses can shed light on state-INGO relations in other countries, many of which are subject to increasingly stringent regulations and a closing political environment.