Putting the Lasts First: The Case for Community-Focused and Peer-Managed NGO Accountability Mechanisms

The calls for NGO accountability have grown louder in recent years, some based on genuine concerns to help improve their performance and others on a desire to muffle their advocacy activities. Using a comprehensive analytical framework, this article finds that current accountability approaches prioritize accountability to boards and donors and give weak accountability to communities despite strong NGO rhetoric to the contrary. The article recommends the development of accountability mechanisms managed by NGO coordination bodies and focused primarily on accountability to communities to improve NGO performance and protect them from politically motivated attacks.     

Web-Based Accountability Practices in Non-profit Organizations: The Case of National Museums

Stakeholder theory posits that accountability systems depend on the strength and the number of their stakeholders. This paper aims to analyze the empirical validity of stakeholder theory, focusing on accountability systems in the museum sector. Based on Wikipedia resources, we have selected all of the “National Museums” (134 museums) in the major developed countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the US. After we control for type of activity (art or other), cost per visitor and country, the results of an OLS multivariate model show that size of the museum, which is assumed to represent the strength and number of stakeholders, and the amount of funds received, which represents the power of a particularly salient category of stakeholders (donors), are the two main determinants of the accountability level. We conclude that accountability, in the absence of shareholders, is driven by the number and the power of different stakeholders, validating the stakeholder theory.     

Funding Civil Society? Bilateral Government Support for Development NGOs

Research on the determinants of foreign aid tends to focus on the relationship between donor country priorities and recipient state characteristics, but donors also make decisions about which organizations and programs within countries will receive assistance. Although NGOs increasingly have been recipients of foreign aid, few data are available to investigate which organizations within a given country receive that funding. Donors may prioritize structural characteristics of NGOs or their local ties—or they may seek a combination that blends concern about efficiency and accountability with an interest in developing national civil society. We use original data from Cambodia to explore whether aid is likely to go to managerial organizations (professionalized NGOs and NGOs that utilize modern management tools) or to organizations that are embedded in the domestic context. We argue that managerialism provides legitimacy for NGOs by signaling capacity and accountability to donors, increasing the likelihood of government funding. We argue that local embeddedness also confers legitimacy by aligning community ties and networks to rights-based development, increasing the likelihood of government funding. We find general support for the managerialism argument, but donor agencies do not prioritize direct funding for “indigenous” NGOs—not even among those with high levels of managerialism.     

The relational determinants of nonprofit Web site fundraising effectiveness: An exploratory study

In this article, we develop a framework for assessing the relational content of nonprofit Internet sites. We operationalize this as a series of eight relational constructs applicable to the context of Web site design and operation and explore the relationship between the presence of these dimensions and the fundraising performance of nonprofit Web sites. We conclude that accessibility, accountability, education, interaction, and empowerment are significantly correlated with the number of new donors a site is able to attract, and that accessibility, accountability, and education are also highly correlated with the total value of online donations offered.     

NGOization,Foreign Funding,and the Nicaraguan Civil Society

A substantial section of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the global South depend on foreign funds to conduct their operations. This paper explores how the availability of foreign funding affects their downward accountability, abilities to effect social change, and their relative influence in relation to traditional grassroots, membership-based organizations (GROs), which tend not to receive such funding. Drawing on a case study of Nicaragua, we challenge the notion that foreign funding of domestic NGOs leads to the evolution of civil society organizations, which have incentives and abilities to organize the marginalized sections of society in ways to effect social change in their interests. Instead, we find that foreign funding and corresponding professionalization of the NGO sector creates dualism among domestic civil society organizations. Foreign funding enhances the visibility and prestige of the “modern” NGO sector over traditional GROs. This has grave policy implications because foreign-funded NGOs tend to be more accountable to donors than beneficiaries and are more focused on service delivery than social change-oriented advocacy.     

Should countries be more like shopping malls? A proposal for Service Performance Guarantees

Through an examination of existing guarantee mechanisms, this article sets out and explains a proposal for the adoption of Service Performance Guarantees (SPGs) by developing countries working to attract foreign investment. The proposed approach is to offer investing firms the opportunity to purchase insurance against a wider range of risks than is currently possible, with highly visible payouts if service delivery standards fall short of those expected from the programme. The SPG contracts would be covered by a “domestic reserve” funded from premiums paid in by the firms and backed up by a further guarantee issued by a development partner. This approach restructures accountability to create a partnership of donors and recipient governments, accountable to their investor clients.     

Nonprofit watchdogs: Do they serve the average donor?

Nonprofit watchdog organizations—organizations devoted to rating the accountability and transparency of nonprofits—claim to serve donors who are selecting which nonprofits to support. However, using three waves of the Harris Interactive Donor Pulse, we found that the overwhelming majority of donors (77.6 percent) do not consult these online intermediaries when making donations. Those who do are likely to fall into one of two groups: donors who give large sums of money or donors who are engaged in advocacy. We conclude with conceptual and practical implications.     

Multidimensional Assessment of Poverty Alleviation in a Developing Country: A Case Study on Economic Interventions

Donors increasingly expect international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) to prove that the organizations' economic development interventions alleviate poverty. Currently, many INGOs search for new methods to meet this demand by focusing on the expectations of donors rather than those of beneficiaries. We analyze the benefit of qualitative, context‐specific methods and ask the question: What can an economic development intervention contribute to poverty alleviation from the perspective of the beneficiaries? In our case study, a negative economic valuation was not automatically a reason to evaluate the economic intervention as a failure. Assessment thus cannot be reduced to economic impacts. Also, qualitative approaches can add beneficiary‐oriented data in a context in which accountability mainly focuses on donors. This beneficiary orientation likely leads to better accountability negotiations with donors. Three hypotheses introduce these results.     

A new player in the international development community? Chile as an emerging donor

In recent years a series of non‐traditional donors have gained relevance as providers of Official Development Assistance (ODA). In the present study we analyze the case of Chile, one of these emerging donors. Our estimates indicate that Chile's ODA was roughly 0.01% of gross domestic product (GDP) in the period from 2006 to 2012. Even though this magnitude was far below that of other emerging donors, Chile has become one of the main regional donors within Latin America. We show that the Chilean approach to international co‐operation has been a mix of emergency aid and technical assistance for social policies, often in response to diplomatic affairs. As such, Chilean ODA has been mainly an instrument of soft power diplomacy.     

Saving the Moral Capital of NGOs: Identifying One-Sided and Many-Sided Social Dilemmas in NGO Accountability

The literature on nonprofit management has embraced the concept of “accountability” to target urgent challenges related to NGO probity and integrity, and there have been attempts in the literature to use rational-choice-based governance approaches to solve them. Although the existing principal–agent frameworks provide important insights, they are limited to the analysis of financial relationships between NGOs and donors. We contribute to the literature in developing a comprehensive rational-choice-based governance approach to analyze all stakeholder relationships of NGOs. Applying the research program of ordonomics, we unpack two fundamental interaction problems: (a) the “stakeholder dilemma” between the NGO and a single accountability holder as a one-sided social dilemma and (b) the “competition dilemma” among rival NGOs as a many-sided social dilemma. We show that improving NGO accountability in relation to intended beneficiaries, peer organizations, and the general public also requires identifying the underlying governance problem as a competition dilemma focusing on collective self-regulation as a solution.     

Debt‐Relief Effectiveness and Institution‐Building

This article provides new evidence on the effects of recent debt‐relief programmes on different macroeconomic indicators in developing countries, focusing on the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs). The relationship between debt relief and institutional change is also investigated to assess whether donors are moving towards ex‐post governance conditionality. Results show that debt relief is only weakly associated with subsequent improvements in economic performance but is correlated with increasing domestic debt which undermines the positive achievements in reducing external debt service. There is also evidence that donors are moving towards a more sensible allocation of debt forgiveness, rewarding countries which have better policies and institutions.     

Family Relocation:

Family domestic relocations for the purpose of employment have increased and indications are that this will continue. Although there are various reasons for relocation which affect its influence, recent research on corporate moves suggests that there are unexplored discrepancies in the findings on how the two genders respond to the relocation. This paper will discuss these differences and will describe how professions unwittingly can contribute to mother and/or wife blaming within the context of family relocation. The results are evident in the literature which produces: (1) a focus on women's responsibility and accountability for the family, to the exclusion of men, and (2) a lack of awareness of the societally prescribed contexts of work and family life that can be oppressive to both women and men. This paper also suggests practice principles that will guide work with family member's adjustment to relocation and that will direct future research.     

USING GENDER: THE PERSONAL,INTERPERSONAL, AND EMOTIONAL STRATEGIES OF DOMESTIC LABOR

Traditional research on domestic labor has conceptualized work done in support of the home as one of the quintessential ways of “doing” gender. New directions in gender and ritual theory raise the possibility that domestic labor may also be about strategy, usefulness and intentions. Through interviews with 24 married couples, I explore the subjective experiences of men and women as they “do” their domestic labor. I find that while husbands and wives are continuing to do gender as a response to interactional accountability demands, they also “use” domestic labor as a vehicle through which they (1) reciprocally craft their gender identity, (2) symbolically communicate with their spouse, and (3) garner emotional energy. Furthermore, the men and women strategically mobilized specific tasks that are most useful in achieving these goals inside their unique dyadic schemas. Through these narratives, I explore the possibility that men and women not only do gender but they can use gender as well.     

Bilateral Donors' Efforts to Assess and Manage UN Agencies' Effectiveness: Seeking a Balance between Paris Principles and Domestic Accountability

Since the turn of the century, results orientation and performance measurement have become buzzwords in development aid. Bilateral donors are increasingly concerned about the effectiveness of core‐funded UN specialised agencies, funds and programmes, through which they channel a substantial part of their funds. While the logic for increased monitoring is clear, it is less evident how to assess this information for purposes of accountability, performance‐based funding and governance. This article describes the general evolution in this area and discusses two major initiatives to harmonise and align bilateral assessments, using case‐study material from three bilateral donors (Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK) with clearly diverging performance‐management cultures, and exploring the extent to which they rely upon joint and aligned initiatives.     

The Governance of International Nongovernmental Organizations: How Funding and Volunteer Involvement Affect Board Nomination Modes and Stakeholder Representation in International Nongovernmental Organizations

The governance of civil society organizations (CSOs) is a crucial determinant of organizational legitimacy, accountability, and performance. International nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) are a subtype of CSOs and have received a lot of attention as actors in global governance. Research suggests that INGOs can follow a membership model, where the board is elected by the membership, or a board-managed model, where the board is appointed to represent major stakeholders. Following resource dependency theory, we argue that the choice between these two models depends on the INGOs different sources of funding and the degree of volunteer involvement: As donors and volunteers provide important resources, they are in turn granted the right to nominate board members or to sit on the board. In our quantitative study we show that individual members, regional member organizations, and governmental donors hold a stronger position in the governance of INGOs than philanthropists, foundations and volunteers. Our results inform research on CSO governance by highlighting the relevance of board nomination modes and by showing how CSOs can incorporate stakeholders into their governance mechanisms.     

Practices and challenges in educational program evaluation in the Asia-Pacific region: results of a Delphi study

While educational program evaluation has become more important in recent years because of increasing governmental demands for accountability, little is known about the development of and issues in regard to this topic in the Asia-Pacific region. The findings from a Delphi study conducted in a number of relevant countries are provided in this article. Thirty panelists participated in three rounds of iterations to identify current status, challenges, and concerns in the near future. The results should be of value to educational evaluators, researchers, and decision makers.     

Governing through accountability: Gendered moral selves and the (im)possibilities of resistance in the neoliberal university

Drawing on Judith Butler's early work on gender as performance and her later work on the ethically accountable subject, this study examines the production of gendered moral subjects under neoliberal governance in contemporary academia. The analysis of 40 semi‐structured in‐depth interviews with postdoc researchers and assistant, associate and full professors in a Belgian university reveals how in academics’ narratives of their ethical relations of (non‐)accountability towards multiple stakeholders, gendered subjects are performed along the heterosexual matrix reproducing the gender binary. The conjunction of gendered and ethical demands imposed through relations of accountability further opens up distinctively gendered possibilities of consent and resistance under neoliberal governance. We advance the extant literature on gender in academia which largely focuses on women's symbolic struggle to (dis)identify with a masculine professional norm. By locating power in the gendered relations of accountability towards multiple others, it re‐conceptualizes gender as an ontological struggle in the constitution of the self as moral along gendered norms. The study rejoins recent scholarship that calls for the recognition and elaboration of a relational ethics by showing how such ethics enables the emergence of open and responsive subjectivities in relations of accountability.     

Managing Development for Results: A Role for Results‐oriented Public Expenditure Management

Can results‐oriented approaches to public expenditure management function in low‐income countries? Do they have a role in securing the implementation of poverty reduction strategies? And can they assist donors in ‘managing aid for results’? Findings from seven countries suggest that they can work in environments with mediocre discipline in budget and public finance management and a degree of uncertainty caused by macroeconomic instability, but not when there is excessive ‘informality’ and instability. With political will and a strong finance ministry, they have proved valuable tools in ensuring the coherent expansion of pro‐poor programmes and their delivery through autonomous local governments. However, they have yet to become effective in improving public administrations' accountability to parliament and to non‐governmental stakeholders.     

Responses to global challenges: trends in aid‐financed global public goods

Based on four decades (1973–2013) of OECD‐Development Assistance Committee aid to developing countries, this article aims to show aid‐financed global public goods trends, their changing composition and their main drivers. In particular, a constant increase in the share of aid‐financed global public goods and a shift towards weighted‐sum and weakest‐link global goods are observed. Economic conditions, imitation effects, global engagement and domestic spending result as the main drivers of donors’ demand for aid‐financed global public goods. Besides, a certain complementarity in the provision of global goods plays a role, especially in European countries and Japan, partially easing the prognosis for the collective action problems related to global goods     

Institutional Amnesia: Sustainability and Peacebuilding in Croatia

This article studies the relationship between sustainability and institutional memory in postwar Croatia. Is institutional memory preserved after interventions end? Is so, how and by whom? What are the causes of loss of institutional memory? What are the consequences for sustainability and accountability? When international organizations pulled out of peacebuilding operations in Croatia in the mid to late 2000s, they quickly lost their institutional memory of their projects. Donors, international nongovernmental organizations, and intergovernmental organizations all lost their ability to recall the work they had done in the past. Using interview, ethnographic data, and archival documents gathered over five years (2008–2013), I define three types of memory—archival, human, and electronic—and show how each of these forms of memory eroded as international projects in Croatia ended. The loss of international memory has implications for international organizations' own stated goals of sustainability and their ability to achieve and assess sustainability, and for the downward accountability of donors to their beneficiaries and the countries they worked in.