The altruistic lobbyists

The role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has sparked increased interest in recent years as they have grown in prominence and international activity. The thesis looks at British and Canadian NGOs concerned with overseas development assistance, and asks what influence they have wielded in the...

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Main Author: Van Rooy, A
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 1994
Subjects:
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author Van Rooy, A
author_facet Van Rooy, A
author_sort Van Rooy, A
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description The role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has sparked increased interest in recent years as they have grown in prominence and international activity. The thesis looks at British and Canadian NGOs concerned with overseas development assistance, and asks what influence they have wielded in the formulation of their own governments' development policies. Based on recent policy community writing, a "conceptual map" is devised which suggests that six elements are important for any analysis of influence: context, content, motivations, resources, tactics, and channels. Chapters two to five use these elements to look at the broad "policy communities" in which official development policy is formulated, and to examine the increasing roles and activities of NGOs as lobbyists. Chapters six and seven take a closer look at two specific "policy networks" within those communities: the relationships created around the World Food Conference in 1974 are compared with those existing at the time of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (the Earth Summit). The thesis concludes that NGOs have had an increasing but limited influence on government policy, given (1) an increase in the activity and influence of NGOs, (2) the greater relevance of certain "elements of influence" over others, and (3) the comparatively stronger influence of Canadian NGOs in relation to their British counterparts. The thesis' contribution to knowledge is based on its use of extensive and original primary sources and interviews in both countries, its application of a policy community approach to a new field in international relations, and its systematic attempt to answer evolving questions about this growing, international, and non-governmental force.
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spelling oxford-uuid:7327692d-f554-4f67-86e4-ab51e22053fc2022-03-26T19:54:32ZThe altruistic lobbyistsThesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_db06uuid:7327692d-f554-4f67-86e4-ab51e22053fcNon-governmental organizationsEconomic assistance, BritishGreat BritainCanadaEconomic assistance, CanadianEnglishPolonsky Theses Digitisation Project1994Van Rooy, AThe role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has sparked increased interest in recent years as they have grown in prominence and international activity. The thesis looks at British and Canadian NGOs concerned with overseas development assistance, and asks what influence they have wielded in the formulation of their own governments' development policies. Based on recent policy community writing, a "conceptual map" is devised which suggests that six elements are important for any analysis of influence: context, content, motivations, resources, tactics, and channels. Chapters two to five use these elements to look at the broad "policy communities" in which official development policy is formulated, and to examine the increasing roles and activities of NGOs as lobbyists. Chapters six and seven take a closer look at two specific "policy networks" within those communities: the relationships created around the World Food Conference in 1974 are compared with those existing at the time of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (the Earth Summit). The thesis concludes that NGOs have had an increasing but limited influence on government policy, given (1) an increase in the activity and influence of NGOs, (2) the greater relevance of certain "elements of influence" over others, and (3) the comparatively stronger influence of Canadian NGOs in relation to their British counterparts. The thesis' contribution to knowledge is based on its use of extensive and original primary sources and interviews in both countries, its application of a policy community approach to a new field in international relations, and its systematic attempt to answer evolving questions about this growing, international, and non-governmental force.
spellingShingle Non-governmental organizations
Economic assistance, British
Great Britain
Canada
Economic assistance, Canadian
Van Rooy, A
The altruistic lobbyists
title The altruistic lobbyists
title_full The altruistic lobbyists
title_fullStr The altruistic lobbyists
title_full_unstemmed The altruistic lobbyists
title_short The altruistic lobbyists
title_sort altruistic lobbyists
topic Non-governmental organizations
Economic assistance, British
Great Britain
Canada
Economic assistance, Canadian
work_keys_str_mv AT vanrooya thealtruisticlobbyists
AT vanrooya altruisticlobbyists