Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-01T03:23:58.908Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Taking the Fight to Them: Neighborhood Human Rights Organizations and Domestic Protest

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2013

Sam R. Bell ,
Tavishi Bhasin ,
K. Chad Clay  and
Amanda Murdie
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article examines how human rights international non-governmental organizations (hereafter HROs) can increase the level of political protest in neighboring states. Previous research suggests local activities of HROs help to generate mobilization for protests against governments. This article shows that the presence of HROs in neighboring states can be a substitute for domestic HROs; if domestic HROs are already flourishing, there will be less of a ‘neighbor’ effect. At sufficiently high levels of domestic HRO prevalence within a state, neighboring HROs help domestic HROs use institutionalized substitutes for protest mobilization strategies. Spatial econometric methods are used to test the implications of this theory. These results illuminate the role that non-governmental organizations play in these domestic political processes, and demonstrate the transnational nature of their activities.

Type
Articles
Information
British Journal of Political Science , Volume 44 , Issue 4 , October 2014 , pp. 853 - 875
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

Kansas State University (email: [email protected]); Kennesaw State University (email: [email protected]); University of Georgia (email: [email protected]); University of Missouri (email: [email protected]). An earlier version of this article was presented at the 2011 Annual Peace Science Society Meeting hosted at the University of Southern California. We thank the participants of that meeting for their helpful comments. We also thank two anonymous reviewers and the Editor for their constructive and helpful comments. An online appendix with supplementary tables and replication data is available at http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1017/S0007123413000100. All authors contributed equally and are thus listed in alphabetical order.

References

List of References

Al-Assad, Asma. 2010. Speech given at Conference on the Emerging Role of Civil Society in Development, Damascus, 23 December.Google Scholar
Andrews, Kenneth T. Biggs, Michael. 2006. The Dynamics of Protest Diffusion: Movement Organizations, Social Networks, and News Media in the 1960 Sit-ins. American Sociological Review 71 (October): 752–777.Google Scholar
Aldashev, Thierry Verdier, Gani. 2010. Goodwill Bazaar: NGO Competition and Giving to Development. Journal of Development Economics 91 (1):48–63.Google Scholar
Beck, Nathaniel, Gleditsch, Kristian Skrede Beardsley, Kyle. 2006. Space is More than Geography: Using Spatial Econometrics in the Study of Political Economy. International Studies Quarterly 50:27–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beer, Michael A. 1999. Violent and Nonviolent Struggle in Burma: Is a Unified Strategy Workable? Pp. 174–185 in Nonviolent Social Movements: A Geographical Perspective, edited by Stephen Zunes, Sarah Beth Asher, and Lester Asher. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Bell, Sam R., Clay, K. Chad Murdie, Amanda. 2012. Neighborhood Watch: Spatial Effects of Human Rights INGOs. Journal of Politics 74 (2):1–16.Google Scholar
Bhasin, Tavishi. 2008. Democracy and Dissent: Explaining Protest and State Response. Doctoral dissertation. Emory University, Atlanta.Google Scholar
Bob, Clifford. 2005. The Marketing of Rebellion: Insurgents, Media, and International Activism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bond, Doug., Bond, Joe, Oh, Churl, Jenkins, J. Craig Taylor, Charles Lewis. 2003. Integrated Data For Events Analysis (IDEA): An Event Typology For Automated Events Data Development. Journal of Peace Research 40 (6):733–745.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boulding, Carew E. 2010. NGOs and Political Participation in Weak Democracies: Subnational Evidence on Protest and Voter Turnout from Bolivia. Journal of Politics 72 (2):456–468.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buhaug, Halvard Gleditsch, Kristian Skrede. 2008. Contagion or Confusion? Why Conflicts Cluster in Space. International Studies Quarterly 52 (2):215–233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bunce, Valerie Wolchik, Sharon L.. 2006. Favorable Conditions and Electoral Revolutions. Journal of Democracy 17 (4):5–18.Google Scholar
Cingranelli, David L. Richards, David L.. 1999. Respect for Human Rights after the End of the Cold War. Journal of Peace Research 36 (5):511–534.Google Scholar
Cingranelli, David L. Richards, David L.. 2010. The Cingranelli and Richards (CIRI) Human Rights Data Project. Human Rights Quarterly 32 (2):401–424.Google Scholar
Cameron, A. Colin, Trivedi, Pravin K. 1998. Regression Analysis of Count Data. Econometric Society Monograph No.30, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Carey, Sabine C. 2006. The Dynamic Relationship between Protest and Repression. Political Research Quarterly 59 (1):1–11.Google Scholar
Cooley, Alexander Ron, James. 2002. The NGO Scramble: Organizational Insecurity and the Political Economy of Transnational Action. International Security 27 (1):3–39.Google Scholar
Davis, David R., Amanda, Murdie Coty, Garnett. 2012. Makers and Shapers: Human Rights INGOs and Public Opinion. Human Rights Quarterly 34 (1):199–224.Google Scholar
de Vries, Helma. 2007. Insider and Outsiders: Global Social Movements, Party Politics, and Democracy in Europe and North America. Doctoral dissertation. University of Maryland.Google Scholar
EEAS. 2011. Delegation of the European Union to Syria. Available from http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/syria/eu_syria/tech_financial_cooperation/civil_society/index_en.htm.Google Scholar
Elbadawi, I. Sambanis, N.. 2002. How Much War Will We See? Explaining the Prevalence of Civil War. Journal of Conflict Resolution 46 (3):307–334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Franklin, James C. 2008. Shame on You: The Impact of Human Rights Criticism on Political Repression in Latin America. International Studies Quarterly 52 (1):187–211.Google Scholar
Franzese, Robert J. Jr. Hays, Jude C.. 2007. Spatial Econometric Models of Cross-Sectional Interdepedence in Political Science Panel and Time-Series-Cross-Section Data. Political Analysis 15 (2):140–164.Google Scholar
Gourevitch, Peter. 1978. The Second Image Reversed: The International Sources of Domestic Politics. International Organization 32 (4):881–912.Google Scholar
Haines, Herbert H. 1984. Black Radicalization and the Funding of Civil Rights: 1957–1970. Social Problems 32 (1):31–43.Google Scholar
Heaney, Michael T., Rojas, Fabio. 2011. Hybrid Activism: Social Movement Mobilization in a Multi-Movement Environment. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Seattle, Washington.Google Scholar
Hegre, Håvard, Ellingsen, Tanja, Gates, Scott Gleditsch, Nils Petter. 2001. Towards a Democratic Civil Peace? Democracy, Political Change, and Civil War 1816–1992. American Political Science Review 95 (1):33–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Human Rights Watch. 2011. We've Never Seen Such Horror: Crimes against Humanity by Syrian Security Forces. Available from www.hrw.org.Google Scholar
ICNL. 2009. Global Trends in NGO Law. International Center for Not for Profit Law. 1(2):May. Available from http://www.icnl.org/knowledge/globaltrends/glotrends1-1.htm.Google Scholar
Keck, Margaret E. Sikkink, Kathryn. 1998. Activists beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Kriesi, Hanspeter. 1996. The Organizational Structure of New Social Movements in a Political Context. Pp. 152–184 in Comparative Perspectives on Social Movements: Political Opportunities, Mobilizing, Structures, and Cultural Framings, edited by Doug McAdam, John D. McCarthy, and Mayer N. Zald. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lawyers Against War. 2011. Press release on Cheney. 25 September.Google Scholar
Li, Quan. 2005. Does Democracy Promote or Reduce Transnational Terrorist Incidents? Journal of Conflict Resolution 49 (2):278–297.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Long, J.S. 1997. Regression Models for Categorical and Limited Dependent Variables. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage.Google Scholar
Marshall, Monty, Jaggers, Keith. 2009. Polity IV Project. Center for Systemic Peace. Available from http://www.systemicpeace.org/polity/polity4.htm, accessed 28 September 2012.Google Scholar
Matthews, David 2010. A man with a mission. Washington Post Sunday Magazine. W14. 29 January.Google Scholar
McAdam, Doug, Tarrow, Sidney Tilly, Charles. 2001. Dynamics of Contention. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
McCarthy, John D., McPhail, Clark Smith, Jackie. 1996. Images of Protest: Dimensions of Selection Bias in Media Coverage of Washington Demonstrations, 1982 and 1991. American Sociological Review 61 (3):478–499.Google Scholar
Murdie, Amanda Bhasin, Tavishi. 2011. Aiding and Abetting: Human Rights INGOs and Domestic Protest. Journal of Conflict Resolution 55 (2):163–191.Google Scholar
Murdie, Amanda Davis, David. 2012. Shaming and Blaming: Using Events Data to Assess the Impact of Human Rights INGOs. International Studies Quarterly 56 (1):1–16.Google Scholar
Norris, Pippa. 2002. Democratic Phoenix: Reinventing Political Activism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Norris, Pippa. 2011. Democratic Deficit: Critical Citizens Revisited. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Pisati, Maurizio. 2001. Tools for Spatial Analysis. Stata Technical Bulletin 60 (March) 21–37.Google Scholar
Prakash, Aseem Gugerty, Mary Kay. eds. 2010. Advocacy Organizations and Collective Action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Regan, Patrick M. Bell, Sam R.. 2010. Changing Lanes or Stuck in the Middle: Why Are Anocracies More Prone to Civil Wars? Political Research Quarterly 63 (4):747–759.Google Scholar
Regan, Patrick M. Norton, Daniel. 2005. Protest, Rebellion, and the Onset of Civil Wars. Journal of Conflict Resolution 49 (3):1–18.Google Scholar
Risse, Thomas, Ropp, Stephen C. Sikkink, Kathryn. eds. 1999. The Power of Human Rights: International Norms and Domestic Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ron, James, Ramos, Howard Rodgers, Kathleen. 2005. Transnational Informational Politics: NGO Human Rights Reporting, 1986–2000. International Studies Quarterly 49:557–587.Google Scholar
Schmitz, Hans Peter. 2002. From Lobbying to Shaming: The Evolution of Human Rights Activism since the 1940s. Paper presented at the International Studies Association Meeting, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Schock, Kurt. 2004. Unarmed Insurrections: People Power Movements in Nondemocracies. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
Sikkink, Kathryn. 2005. Patterns of Dynamic Multilevel Governance and the Insider–Outsider Coalition. Pp. 151–174 in Transnational Protest and Global Activism, edited by Donatella della Porta and Sidney Tarrow. New York: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Smith, Jackie Wiest, Dawn. 2005. The Uneven Geography of Global Civil Society: National and Global Influences on Transnational Association. Social Forces 84 (2):621–652.Google Scholar
Stephan, Maria J. Chenoweth, Erica. 2008. Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict. International Security 33 (1):7–44.Google Scholar
Tarrow, Sidney. 1994. Power in Movement: Collective Action, Social Movements and Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Taylor, Rupert. 2002. South Africa: The Role of Peace and Conflict Resolution Organizations in the Struggle against Apartheid. Pp. 69–93 in Mobilizing for Peace: Conflict Resolution in Northern Ireland, Israel/Palestine, and South Africa, edited by Benjamin Gidron, Stanley Katz, and Yeheskel Hasenfeld. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Tsutsui, Kiyoteru Wotipka, Christine M.. 2004. Global Civil Society and the International Human Rights Movement: Citizen Participation in Human Rights International Nongovernmental Organizations. Social Forces 83 (2):587–620.Google Scholar
UCDP/PRIO. 2008. UCDP/PRIO armed conflict program. Available from http://www.prio.no/CSCW/Datasets/Armed-Conflict/UCDP-PRIO/, accessed 28 September 2011.Google Scholar
UIA. 2008/2009. Yearbook of International Organizations Vol. 1–4. 45 ed. Union of International Associations.Google Scholar
Wallander, Celeste A. 2005. Ukraine's Election: The Role of One International NGO. CSIS, REP. Available from http://www.csis.org, accessed 1 March 2013.Google Scholar
WDI. 2010. World Development Indicators. World Bank. CD-Rom.Google Scholar
Weidmann, Nils B. Gleditsch, Kristian Skrede. 2010. Mapping and Measuring Country Shapes: The Cshapes Package. The R Journal 2 (1):18–24.Google Scholar
Weidmann, Nils, Kuse, Doreen Gleditsch, Kristian Skrede. 2010. The Geography of the International System: The CShapes Dataset. International Interactions 36 (1):86–106.Google Scholar
World Values Group Research. 1980–2008. Codebooks for World Values Survey. Ann Arbor, Mich.: Institute for Social Research.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Bell Supplementary Material

Appendix

Download Bell Supplementary Material(PDF)
PDF 114.4 KB