Civil Society Influence on International Organizations: Theorizing the State Channel
Pallas, Christopher L and Uhlin, Anders LU
(2014)
In Journal of Civil Society
10(2).
p.1-20
- Abstract
- The literature on transnational civil society tends to treat civil society organizations CSOs) as independent actors, accomplishing policy change largely through moral force or popular pressure. However, a significant portion of CSO successes in policy advocacy actually utilizes alliances with state actors. To understand the implications of this ‘state channel’ of CSO influence, we develop a new model of CSO use of state influence. We identify four factors that
determine whether the state channel is accessible for CSOs to use and is likely to produce more effective CSO influence than direct CSO engagement with the international organization (IO): the porousness of the targeted states and IOs, the availability of contacts, the... (More) - The literature on transnational civil society tends to treat civil society organizations CSOs) as independent actors, accomplishing policy change largely through moral force or popular pressure. However, a significant portion of CSO successes in policy advocacy actually utilizes alliances with state actors. To understand the implications of this ‘state channel’ of CSO influence, we develop a new model of CSO use of state influence. We identify four factors that
determine whether the state channel is accessible for CSOs to use and is likely to produce more effective CSO influence than direct CSO engagement with the international organization (IO): the porousness of the targeted states and IOs, the availability of contacts, the possibility for alignment of interests, and the relative power of aligned state and IO contacts. We illustrate this theory using four case studies of civil society engagement: two case studies involving the World Bank and two involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Our analysis suggests that the factors determining CSOs’ successful use of the state channel currently tend to favour a small
number of well-resourced, reformist CSOs from porous and powerful states. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4452108
- author
- Pallas, Christopher L
and Uhlin, Anders
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2014
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Civil society organizations, states, international organizations, global governance, democracy, policy-making, advocacy, World Bank, ASEAN
- in
- Journal of Civil Society
- volume
- 10
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 1 - 20
- publisher
- Routledge
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:84903648554
- ISSN
- 1744-8689
- project
- Democracy Beyond the Nation State? Transnational Actors and Global Governance
- Lund Human Rights Research Hub
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 824021a4-4dec-4b8b-a84f-a6b78f0fc779 (old id 4452108)
- alternative location
- http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17448689.2014.921102#.U4mOdPnV-CU
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 09:54:59
- date last changed
- 2022-03-19 07:36:20
@article{824021a4-4dec-4b8b-a84f-a6b78f0fc779,
abstract = {{The literature on transnational civil society tends to treat civil society organizations CSOs) as independent actors, accomplishing policy change largely through moral force or popular pressure. However, a significant portion of CSO successes in policy advocacy actually utilizes alliances with state actors. To understand the implications of this ‘state channel’ of CSO influence, we develop a new model of CSO use of state influence. We identify four factors that<br/><br>
determine whether the state channel is accessible for CSOs to use and is likely to produce more effective CSO influence than direct CSO engagement with the international organization (IO): the porousness of the targeted states and IOs, the availability of contacts, the possibility for alignment of interests, and the relative power of aligned state and IO contacts. We illustrate this theory using four case studies of civil society engagement: two case studies involving the World Bank and two involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Our analysis suggests that the factors determining CSOs’ successful use of the state channel currently tend to favour a small<br/><br>
number of well-resourced, reformist CSOs from porous and powerful states.}},
author = {{Pallas, Christopher L and Uhlin, Anders}},
issn = {{1744-8689}},
keywords = {{Civil society organizations; states; international organizations; global governance; democracy; policy-making; advocacy; World Bank; ASEAN}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{1--20}},
publisher = {{Routledge}},
series = {{Journal of Civil Society}},
title = {{Civil Society Influence on International Organizations: Theorizing the State Channel}},
url = {{http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17448689.2014.921102#.U4mOdPnV-CU}},
volume = {{10}},
year = {{2014}},
}