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Pushing Back or Backing Down? Evidence on Donor Responses to Restrictive NGO Legislation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2025

Lucy Right Open the ORCID record for Lucy Right [Opens in a new window] ,
Jeremy Springman Open the ORCID record for Jeremy Springman [Opens in a new window]  and
Erik Wibbels Open the ORCID record for Erik Wibbels [Opens in a new window]
Lucy Right*
Affiliation:
Leitner Program in International and Comparative Political Economy, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
Jeremy Springman
Affiliation:
PDRI-DevLab, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
Erik Wibbels
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: lucille.right@yale.edu
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Abstract

As authoritarianism has spread globally, government efforts to stifle civic space have increased dramatically. Among the most alarming tactics has been the spread of restrictive laws targeting NGOs. While such laws threaten the core objectives of many foreign donors, they have become especially common in aid-dependent nations. How do foreign donors react to this assault on their local and international implementing partners? On the one hand, democracy-promoting donors might push back, ramping up support for advocacy in defiance of draconian measures. Alternatively, when aspiring autocrats make it difficult to work with local partners, donors might back down, decreasing support for democracy promotion. Testing these arguments using dyadic data on aid flows, an original data set of NGO laws, and a variety of research designs, we find that the donors most committed to democracy promotion back down in the face of restrictive NGO laws, reducing democracy aid by 70 percent in the years after laws are enacted. Our findings suggest that donor behavior creates strong incentives for backsliding governments in aid-receiving countries to use legislation to crack down on civil society.

Keywords

Foreign aidNGO lawsdemocracy promotionclosing civic space

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Research Note
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International Organization , First View , pp. 1 - 28
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The IO Foundation

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https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/FIINC8
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