2051±2065, 2000
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and
transnational advocacy networks are resolved. people'' is rooted in the experience of the
Nelson argues that some tensions are structural networks we will discuss.
features of the networks. In this paper, we NGOs have come to be a force in many
postulate that tensions arise when NGOs active societies, or are at least so perceived. 1 As
in campaigns fail to understand the political NGOs have gained experience and credibility,
responsibilities that arise in a campaign they have recognized that national and inter-
process. When political responsibilities are not national policies as well as commercial market
embraced, NGOs are left open to criticism forces often undermine sustainable develop-
about their legitimacy and accountability. After ment eorts and limit the ability of people at
presenting some key concepts (Section 1) we the grassroots level from participating in public
introduce the concept of political responsibility or private policy decisions that will aect them.
(Section 2). We then outline four typologies of Informed by the needs and experiences of the
transnational advocacy campaigns (Section 3). poorer or disadvantaged sectors in their or
Based upon the typologies we conclude with other societies, NGOs have come to mobilize,
questions about existing literature on transna- articulate and represent people's interests or
tional advocacy, accountability and represen- concerns at dierent levels of decision-making:
tation (Section 4). locally, nationally and internationally. This
The political responsibilities inherent to advocacy work is increasingly seen by NGOs as
transnational advocacy campaigns re¯ect a an integral part of the role they play in civil
healthy debate about the role of NGOs, their society. Using information as a key tool, it
legitimacy and accountability. The role of entails the ambition to change the course of
NGOs continues to be contested between a human development by promoting equal power
narrow service delivery role and an advocacy relationships in national and international
role. The service delivery role is perpetuated by arenas.
the World Bank, some United Nations agencies NGO advocacy is an act of organizing the
and national governments, while some NGOs strategic use of information to democratize
prefer to describe themselves in terms of unequal power relations. This de®nition diers
advocacy. Furthermore, the legitimacy and from others that tend to emphasize actions
accountability of NGO advocacy is increas- related to in¯uencing policy, especially public
ingly questioned not only in the academic policy (Tandon, 1994; Edwards & Hulme,
literature (Edwards & Hulme, 1996) but also by 1996). Others tend to outline advocacy rela-
international ®nancial institutions such as the tively unspeci®ed, simply as ``communication
International Monetary Fund and the World for change.'' In our view, these de®nitions are
Bank, generally in an attempt to divert atten- too limited in expressing what advocacy stands
tion from the pressure of NGOs on their for, as they assume too much unity in objectives
activities (Bain, 1999). If NGOs are to respond and value systems among the NGOs involved.
successfully to these challenges, they will need Furthermore, they often emphasize impact on
to deal with the political responsibilities inher- formal political systems, while disregarding
ent to promoting issues such as the rights of the other functions of advocacy. NGO advocacy
poor, poverty alleviation, natural resource can very well be aimed at directly in¯uencing
conservation, human rights and sustainable reality rather than policy.
development. The act of advocacy to empower weaker
The de®nition of NGOs is not commonly sectors of society is not limited to helping
agreed upon. NGOs are certainly part of the people to access information or giving them
citizen sector and as such ``concerned with the tools to reach out to decision-makers. The
articulation and actualization of particular underlying function of advocacy is often to
social visions'' as noted by Najam (1999, p. enhance the self-respect of weaker communi-
146). We adopt Anna VakilÕs de®nition of ties, to improve their self-con®dence, constitute
NGOs as ``self-governing, private, not-for- integrity and promote mutual trust: all essential
pro®t organizations that are geared toward ingredients to develop a healthy community. It
improving the quality of life of disadvantaged is often overlooked that NGO advocacy also
people'' (Vakil, 1997, p. 2060). As we entails a ®ght against cynicism and despair to
predominantly discuss transnational advocacy which powerless communities tend to fall
campaigns VakilÕs de®nition with its emphasis victim, in the face of massive political and
on NGOs striving toward a normative change, practical obstacles impairing them to improve
``improving the quality of life of disadvantaged their lot.
POLITICAL RESPONSIBILITY AND NGO ADVOCACY 2053
can have major consequences for all actors tant in the context of the management of
involved. Agendas in advocacy will vary political responsibilities, but also in the eec-
depending upon the objectives of each NGO. It tiveness of the campaign. Signi®cant events can
is therefore essential to ®nd a format to lay out erupt at any given moment and can either
explicitly what one's objectives are and to then positively or adversely aect any member of a
develop a strategy with transparent goals. campaign. Getting information out can help
Among the issues that need to be recognized is other partners in the campaign to be prepared
who bears the risks associated with campaign and/or protected. Equally important is deter-
positions. Not surprisingly, speci®c attention is mining an appropriate mix of communication
often needed for the NGO in the campaign who formats. The necessary trust to seriously
has fewer resources or has to deal with a discuss agenda setting, strategies and risk-
repressive government. management cannot be developed by Email
alone (if it is available). Again, certain partici-
(c) Allocation of available ®nancial resources pants in the advocacy eort at hand may prefer
to speak rather than write, which requires using
The need for ®nancial resources varies from the phone, while a certain frequency of meet-
arena to arena. The availability of ®nancial ings in person will also be inevitable, preferably
resources is a major factor contributing to the including meetings in the political arena(s)
risk of lopsided relationships among NGOs where the most urgent problems occur.
around the globe, as the bulk of ®nancial
resources is in the hands of a relatively small (f) Articulating information into useful forms
group of NGOs in the North. 3 Prioritizing
expenses is an issue that can cause tension Information by itself is not enough to pursue
among organizations. Determining who has eective advocacy. Often the available infor-
money and can pay for activities, who has mation needs interpretation in accordance with
access to other sources of ®nancing and who the political arena in which it is being articu-
cannot contribute ®nancially to the activities lated. For example, World Bank documents
agreed upon is one step toward recognizing the and Indian newspaper articles are equally
relationships of power which money generates dicult to understand unless they are trans-
among NGOs. A rough review of a number of lated for the reader who is not familiar with the
NGO networks and relationships with which institution or the political arena. Pointing out
we have been involved has taught us that it the critical statements or aspects of the docu-
helps for more powerful, i.e. ®nancially mentation to fellow activists in other political
resourceful, organizations to separate clearly arenas and translating the important pieces of
the responsibility for raising and appropriating information (either from the local language
money from advocacy. Financial accountabil- into English or vice versa), are critical respon-
ity and political responsibility are dierent and sibilities. In many situations, oral communica-
should not be confused. tion is the only method of communication that
is eective at a local level. A key indicator of
(d) Information ¯ow the quality of a campaign is the length to which
NGOs will go to break through communication
In advocacy, information is the most power- and language barriers.
ful tool: the direction in which the information
¯ows in networks, whether all participants in an (g) The formalization of relationships
advocacy campaign have equal access to the
same information, the density of the ¯ow of In global campaigns, networks are often
information and the quality of available infor- ¯uid. Global campaigns require time to deter-
mation will all have an impact on how and mine who is going to be involved in the issue.
whether political responsibility is embraced. As campaigns develop, relationships tend to
The ability to actually analyze, process or become more formalized. They can even get to
generate information is equally important. the point where they have statutes such as in
the case of World Rainforest Movement
(e) Information frequency and format (WRM) or the International NGO Forum on
Indonesian Development (INFID). Action
The frequency with which NGOs relay committees, a memorandum of understanding,
information to one another is not only impor- the production of joint newsletters etc. repre-
2056 WORLD DEVELOPMENT
international level (as opposed to contacts issues of peoples' participation were at the
¯owing between and among international forefront of the NGO agenda(s). Next to
players). Relationships between campaigners national and provincial authorities, however,
internationally were less formal than in the the main target of the campaign was a private
Narmada case. On the national level in Nepal, company rather than the World Bank.
however, relationships were formalized by In October 1988, the US-based Scott Paper
establishing two NGO coalitions, the Alliance company announced a US$653.8 million
for Energy and the Arun Concerned Group. investment in a tree farm and pulp mill project
The connections to the local arena were weak in in the Southeast part of Irian Jaya. The project
the Arun case so theories about the needs and was to be realized by means of a joint venture
desires of the local people were not very well between Scott Paper and PT Astra, a large
tested. This was the greatest weakness of the Indonesian conglomerate, well connected to the
campaign. There was a low level of maintaining Indonesian Suharto regime. The aim of the
political responsibility with respect to the local project was to gradually establish a eucalyptus
region. As a result, when the World Bank's plantation of up to 200,000 hectares to provide
decision to withdraw from the project was logs for a pulp and wood factory in nearby
announced, the Nepalese NGOs initially were Merauke.
afraid to openly show their satisfaction as they Soon after the public announcement of the
feared a backlash from some local interest project, local and national NGOs began to put
groups that had anticipated bene®ts from the forward criticisms and demands. The Indone-
project. At the same time, international NGOs sian Network for Forest Conservation (Skephi)
released a press statement declaring victory on led a coalition with nine other Indonesian
the assumption that Nepalese people were Jakarta-based NGOs, who began to raise
dancing in the streets. concerns. Skephi questioned how a forest
concession could have been granted to PT
(c) The disassociated campaign Astra Scott Cellulosa without the implementa-
tion of an Environmental Impact Assessment in
We call the third typology to qualify the conformity with Indonesian Environmental
relationships among NGOs engaged in trans- Law. Other issues raised by Indonesian NGOs
national advocacy the ``disassociated cam- were: how Scott and Astra planned to involve
paign.'' This type of campaign takes us one local communities in the project, especially with
step further away from truly interwoven respect to the use of tribal land; the impact on
relationships among NGOs, to a situation customary land ownership; the selection of
whereÐbased upon the same issueÐadvocacy pristine tropical rain forest (which would lead
objectives represented by various NGOs in to the destruction of genetic resources, while
dierent political arenas begin to clash. The the resulting deforestation could lead to the
dynamics of the typology are: drying up of natural rivers); the composition of
Ða parallel representation of con¯icting the necessary labor force and how it would be
objectives by dierent NGOs in their own recruited; and whether upstream and down-
political arena; stream wastes would be handled appropriately.
Ða regular but lopsided ¯ow of information NGOs in the United States adopted these
among the NGOs involved, usually more demands.
information ¯ows from the South to the In response to initial NGO criticism, Scott
North rather than vice versa; promised an environmental as well as a social
Ðoccasional and unaliated review of strat- impact assessment, and explained that there
egies and management of political responsi- would be an extended test-period for the
bilities among dierent NGOs involved, project to review its environmental and social
predominantly exclusive to their own politi- soundness. The company stated that the
cal arena; intention was to carefully approach the project.
Ða low level of political responsibility. The relationship with the local communities
The example we use to illustrate the typology was described as a ``win±win'' situation with
of a disassociated campaign is the intended promises being made as to the creation of 6,000
investment of the US Scott Paper company in a jobs, training for local people, as well as the
pulp and paper plantation in Irian Jaya, East provision of schools and medical facilities.
Indonesia (Cleary, 1997; Stern, 1991). Like the Subsequently, communication between Scott
previous cases, environmental concerns and and NGOs developed on various levels,
2060 WORLD DEVELOPMENT
primarily in Irian Jaya and in the United States. While NGOs at the international level
A group of ®ve local NGOs got together and communicated intensively with each other,
established fairly regular communication with there was not much communication between
representatives of PT Astra Scott Cellulosa. the local and international levels of the NGO
The local NGOs obtained a copy of the project campaign. International groups suspected that
plans, which they translated into Indonesian local people were in fact not well informed and
and circulated among local communities. were already worn out by years of Indonesian
NGOs were assigned to help explain and oppression and intimidation in this remote
discuss the documents and the project in region of Irian Jaya. This perception was
general with the local communities, in a series strengthened by the decision of the Indonesian
of meetings that were organized by the NGOs. authorities to virtually close o the area to
The local district authorities also got involved outsiders.
in these meetings. The situation reached a climax in the second
In the course of 1989, an agenda for local half of 1989. The Scott Paper project was one
NGOs emerged, in which they basically accep- of the cases highlighted by RAN in a full-page
ted the establishment of the plantation, trying advertisement in the New York Times, pointing
to gain training and employment opportunities, at the destruction of tropical rain forest. On
fair compensation for tribal land and proper October 13, Scott announced its withdrawal
control over environmental, social and cultural from the project, apparently quite to the
impacts. The discussions with Scott went as far surprise of PT Astra and the Indonesian
as the establishment of an agreement to keep authorities, who had already boosted the
prostitution and bars away from the project overall data of foreign investment in Indonesia
area. With respect to the important question of in 1989 by including the project in Irian Jaya.
land ownership, Scott started making a map of The reason for the withdrawal given by Scott
the project area using village maps, as opposed was that ``extensive studies now indicate the
to using ocial maps that did not properly Company can meet its anticipated needs for
re¯ect traditional land ownership. The local pulp from other sources.'' In interviews,
communities also expressed a preference to however, Scott agreed that NGO pressure
leaseÐrather than sellÐtheir land, which Scott played an important role in the considerations
was willing to discuss. Part of the ®nancing of of the company to withdraw.
the local level negotiations and capacity build- The dierences between NGOs operating at
ing eorts was provided for by USAID and the dierent levels in appreciating the outcome of
Asia Foundation. the campaign, were best summed up in a letter
Meanwhile, at the international level, an from a local NGO to Survival International
NGO campaign with a dierent character had after Scott's withdrawal. The local NGO
emerged. The project in Irian Jaya was framed agreed that it would be best if the project would
by linking Scott Paper to their responsibility for be stopped altogether. But PT Astra and the
environmental damage in the United States and Indonesian authorities had already announced
Canada. Scott Paper in the United States and that negotiations with various new potential
its subsidiaries in Europe were vigorously foreign counterparts for the project were on the
targeted by a number of NGOs, like the way. The question from East Irian Jaya was
Rainforest Action Network (RAN) and Survi- what would the international NGOs do if a new
val International. NGOs threatened a consum- company from Japan, Taiwan or Korea entered
ers' boycott of Scott Products if Scott would the local arena, most likely much less willing to
not leave pristine rain forest and the areas of negotiate with the local communities or
tribal people untouched. These NGOs cooper- NGOs as compared to Scott Paper? To date
ated in particular with the Skephi led coalition there has been no new investment of this
in Indonesia. Some Jakarta-based NGOs and kind.
some international groups, such as the Indo-
nesian Environmental Forum (WALHI) and (d) The competitive campaign
the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), tried
to follow a road in between. They communi- Our fourth typology provides the worst case
cated in a less aggressive way with the Scott scenario, the ``competitive campaign.'' In this
Paper company and stated their willingness to situation, advocacy on one level may actually
accept the project, as long as a number of have an adverse or counterproductive impact at
demands were met. another level. There is a serious lack of infor-
POLITICAL RESPONSIBILITY AND NGO ADVOCACY 2061
mation exchange and coordination among the Strategies were adopted based upon what was
NGOs involved, resulting in an absence of considered to be politically feasible, as
accountability and a failure to embrace politi- opposed to what was requested by the aected
cal responsibilities. The dynamics of the communities. Deals were agreed which
competitive campaign are: undercut the rights of indigenous peoples to
Ða parallel representation of opposing manage their own territories. In some cases,
objectives by dierent NGOs in dierent environmental and human rights organiza-
political arenas; tions raised money in the name of the
Ðno direct ¯ow of information among campaign but did not share those resources in
dierent NGOs at dierent levels; any way with the people on whose behalf they
Ðno joint review of strategies or manage- had raised the funds. In fact, activists close to
ment of political responsibilities which may the indigenous people operated on shoestring
result in human rights violations or other budgets while those operating in the United
negative impacts on the interests of local States or Europe had plenty of money. At one
communities; point, a US-based environmental organization
Ðno political responsibility. attempted to cut a deal with Conoco which
As an example of a competitive campaign we would have allowed the company to build a
take the case of the Huaorani ®ghting against road straight through the Huaorani territory.
US oil interests in Ecuador (Kane, 1995). Since While decisions taken in the international
1967 American oil companies have exploited oil political arena did not immediately jeopardize
resources in Ecuador with impunity. Leaking the safety of the people on the ground in
pipelines, oil-®res, violence and intimidation Ecuador, those decisions in eect cut o the
have all been part of the operational realities in negotiating abilities of the indigenous
search for the black gold. Rainforests and communities and destroyed a ¯edgling alliance
thriving tribal communities have been des- between the local arena (indigenous peoples)
troyed by the practices of Texaco and and the national arena (Ecuadorian environ-
Petroecuador. In the battle to keep Texaco or mentalists). The struggle of the Huaorani
any other oil interests out of the Huaorani continues. The campaign against Conoco in
territory, some international activists fought to Ecuador provides an example of the worst
save the rainforests while the battle on the local kind of campaign when measuring political
and national level concentrated on protecting responsibility.
the lives and rights of the indigenous peoples.
While these two interests did not necessarily
compete at all stages of the campaign, at vari- 4. MANAGING RELATIONSHIPS IN
ous points in the campaign the diering inter- TRANSNATIONAL NGO ADVOCACY
ests did result in competition. The international
campaign against Conoco ran from the late The central argument of this article is that
1980s to the mid-1990s. the relationships that emerge among NGOs
In the case against Conoco drilling in engaged in global campaigns are highly
Huaorani territory, many US and European- problematic. If not handled with care, they
based environmental and human rights groups may re¯ect as much inequality as they are
had taken up the issue and staked out political trying to undo. The inability of national and
positions which ran the gamut from opposition international bureaucracies and powerful
to Conoco to support for the company as the sections of the private sector to include and
best option in a bad situation. For the most respect a variety of development aspirations is
part, these positions were taken without perhaps the main driving force behind NGO
consultation with the Huaorani (who were deep advocacy across borders. But it is dicult to
in the forest) and at best using information deal with multiple desires for change that can
provided by a variety of national level actors in only be realized by engaging many organiza-
Ecuador, but sometimes with no in-country tions in complex relationships. This is true at
contacts at all. According to one source, the a practical level as well as for theory
only thing the European and US groups had in construction.
common was that the Huaorani people did not Many observers like to reduce the funda-
recognize any of them. mental plurality which is expressed in NGO
There was very little information ¯owing advocacy to a format which is easier to grasp
between the dierent actors in the campaign. and allows for picking up on what is seen as
2062 WORLD DEVELOPMENT
hopeful signs of a vaguely homogeneous The ideal form of cooperation and interac-
``globalization from below'' (Falk, 1995). But, tion in transnational advocacy networks, which
if it is at all possible to still distinguish an we have labeled a ``cooperative campaign,'' is
``above'' and a ``below'' in globalizing political the exception rather than the rule. In that sense
realities, changes concerning speci®c issues the success of the Narmada campaign has
need to beÐand areÐadvocated by NGOs in perhaps set an example to strive for, but at the
dierent arenas simultaneously. This creates a same time has misinformed the debate on NGO
variety of patterns and dynamics in networks, advocacy, precisely because the case is not
which are not necessarily homogeneous or representative of what often happens in trans-
coherent. To an important extent the dynamics national networks.
in these relationships determine the quality of We believe that NGOs will set themselves a
NGO advocacy, both in terms of its commu- more feasible and still very useful target if they
nicative functions as well as in terms of eec- begin with trying to manage their relationships
tively shaping new forms of democracy. minimally at the level of what we have called a
There is no empirical evidence which allows ``concurrent campaign.'' The concurrent
for generalizing about transnational advocacy campaign leaves more room for a variety of
networks as ``those relevant actors working objectives in dierent political arenas, however,
internationally on an issue, who are bound with care taken to respect the interests or
together by shared values, a common discourse, aspirations of the most vulnerable groups
and dense exchanges of information and servi- involved in the campaign. The overlap between
ces'' (Keck & Sikkink, 1998, pp. 2, 200). Nor dierent players at dierent levels in a concur-
can an NGO campaign be de®ned as ``a set of rent campaign is dispersed and far from
strategically linked activities in which members complete. That is what most transnational
of a diuse principled network develop explicit, NGO advocacy eorts will look like when the
visible ties and mutually recognized rules in participants try to embrace their political
pursuit of common goals (and generally against responsibilities but take into account the limi-
a common target)'' (Keck & Sikkink, 1998, tations in their capacities.
p. 6). There is a discourse in NGO networks, What deserves to be highlighted is the
but the common elements are often only partly extreme diculty of pursuing NGO advocacy
shared. Advocacy agendas, targets and strate- eectively and responsibly outside ones own
gies can vary in dierent political arenas. The political arena. There are three reasons for this
exchange of information or services may be and they are among the most important factors
dense, but irregular and unbalanced. The that help to explain why some of our typologies
quality of the ties between dierent members of are enacted in practice.
a network is hardly ever constant and mutually First, people and NGOs primarily act upon
recognized rules in a campaign are far from incentives which emerge in their own space,
common. certainly not upon a notion of ``planetary
We are also uncomfortable with attributing risks'' (Sogge, Biekart, & Saxby, 1996, pp. 169±
too big a role to the binding function of 170). In this respect, the popular slogan ``think
common values in transnational NGO advo- globally, act locally'' is highly confusing,
cacy networks. As a matter of fact, most because it suggests an inherent link between
networks start with a campaign concern and local actions and an aggregate global political
not by determining shared values among the clout of local actions which is far from evident.
network-participants. Particular values may Moreover, it assumes the capacity to ``think
very well motivate the individual NGO activist, global,'' but what does that exactly mean? For
but provide a disproportionate approach to sure, no transnational NGO network has a
explain the communality in transnational mechanism to check whether all network
networks. The one crosscutting principle stan- participants have the same thing in mind if they
dard in transnational NGO advocacy is the start to ``think globally.'' At the end of the day,
international system of human rights. But this connecting activities from a global to a local
is a well-de®ned and institutionally enshrined level and vice versa in a way which is both
normative framework, as opposed to a much strategic and meaningful for all network
less distinct value-orientation (Van Tuijl, 1999). participants involved is a long road full of
Moreover, human rights provide an essential potholes. The frontiers of nation states may be
practical foundation for NGO advocacy strat- crumbling as an obstacle for the physical
egies as well. movement of information, capital or people.
POLITICAL RESPONSIBILITY AND NGO ADVOCACY 2063
Regardless, NGO activists do have borders in clear planning and decision-making process. As
terms of who they are and what they possibly a result, there is a risk for NGOs and their
can do when considering their legitimacy, networks to become overburdened and spread
language, culture, education and ways of their resources too thin. This in turn exposes
communication. them to super®ciality, and insigni®cance and
Second, the expansion of NGO relationships can ultimately back®re when targeted parties
to overcome the limitations of one's own turn the table and start to question the
specialization in one political arena and create accountability and representational aspects of
more eective alliances with other types of the NGOsÕ actions.
social or civil actors within and across national Some authors have argued that networks
borders is often not a feasible solution. There which include NGOs concerned about multiple
are numerous ideas for human rights NGOs to issues (such as environment and human rights)
work with environmental NGOs, for private will be more accountable (Covey, 1996). This
aid agencies to work with knowledge-based argument misses the point. The composition of
NGOs, for development NGOs to work more an NGO network, in terms of the variety of
with trade unions or local governments, for backgrounds and specializations of the NGOs
intermediary NGOs to work with grassroots involved, does not say anything imperative
organizations and social movements, etc. This about the political dynamics between these
is related to NGOs playing a role in concepts organizations or about the impact of their
such as the ``thickening'' of civil society or the advocacy work. As we argued in the previous
development of ``social capital'' (Fox, 1997, section, one level of action in a particular
p. 963). But what NGO is capable of managing political arena may be very eective in itself,
such a multitude of relationships eectively? but could be counterproductive in another
Even at the basic level of information exchange, arena. Likewise, looking at dierent sources of
the maintenance of every relationship requires legitimacy invoked by individual NGOs to
resources. support their advocacy role, such as speci®c
In addition to the question of resources, there expertise or a strong bond with a particular
is the related danger of becoming entangled in constituency, does not provide much insight
con¯icting alliances if NGOs continue to into the dynamics between these organizations
expand their relationships. The more relation- or the impact of their advocacy (Nelson,
ships an NGO is involved in, the more it 1996).
becomes possible that one alliance will at a A third reason for NGOs to be careful in
certain moment articulate a position which operating outside their own political arena is
contradicts another alliance in which the same that it may lead to an erosion of relationships
NGO is involved. We are aware of NGOs who in the local arena. The diculties of engaging
are simultaneously aliated with the Interna- eectively and responsibly in NGO advocacy
tional Union of Conservation (IUCN), with away from home rapidly increase if one loses
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), with touch with a place of origin, because working
Friends of the Earth (FoE) and Greenpeace, the global arena can easily be all-consuming
even though these four entities have very but does not provide a self-standing legitimacy.
dierent global strategies and visions. The iron law of transnational advocacy is that a
For an NGO to engage eectively in trans- ®rm relationship with oneÕs own political arena
national advocacy requires hard choices about is a essential condition for working in one or
resource allocation: which issue to take up, more other political arenas. This approach to
which networks to join, which research to transnational NGO advocacy equates the
participate in, which meeting(s) to attend? It is importance of advocacy in the local arena with
dicult for NGOs to deal with their political that in the global arena.
responsibilities because necessary choices about Our vision is related to those who have tried
resource allocation are avoided or made in a to frame global NGO campaigns in the
haphazard way. For example, NGOs often give language of universal human rights in which
in to the expectations of donors, to the urgency development policies should be formulated,
of a problem or to the desire to be perceived as including the actions of NGOs themselves
a courageous actor on the cutting-edge of (McCormack & Mendonca, 1997). The hall-
important change. Resource allocation and mark of an NGO which fully embraces the
priority setting for transnational advocacy concept of political responsibility is its capacity
within NGOs are usually not the result of a to sustain coherence and consistency between
2064 WORLD DEVELOPMENT
the goals it professes and the manner in which and partnership to overcome the democracy
it pursues them. In NGO advocacy decisions de®cit which is being created by globalizing
about what to doÐor not to doÐwith a certain processes of decision-making. Somewhere in
piece of information are often made in a split between a competitive campaign and a coop-
second. In that sense, the exercise of political erative campaign, transnational NGO advo-
responsibility in NGO advocacy is foremost an cacy may very well help to open up space to
operational problem. articulate strategically a plurality of develop-
The democratic quality of NGO advocacy ment aspirations, at peoples' own conditions
depends to an important extent on how NGOs and risks, using their own time frames,
manage their mutual relationships. Being speaking their own language and applying
rooted in one political arena, NGOs are their own design of political expression or
setting out to seek each others cooperation association.
NOTES
1. The power attributed to NGOs in popular percep- 3. This is not always the case. Advocacy NGOs in the
tions is sometimes astonishing: ``Once relegated to the North often either cannot or do not avail themselves of
do-good fringes of traditional diplomacy, NGOs have funds from government sources and thus can have fewer
moved front and center on the world stage . . . There is a resources than large NGOs in the South.
basic re-sorting of power from nation±states to nongov-
4. There is an argument against formalizing relation-
ernmental entities . . . The century is ending with state
ships which is applicable to situations whereby NGOs
power in decline throughout most of the world. And
may not want to explicitly identify themselves because of
without many people having clearly noticed, NGOs are
threats to their security. This is a valid argument. There
rushing in where soldiers and bureaucrats no longer
is, however, often the further counterargument that
tread.'' Newsweek, 1 August 1994.
safety lies in numbers.
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