NGOs, Political Protest, and Civil Society

Transcription

1 NGOs, Political Protest, and Civil Society This book argues that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have an important effect on political participation in the developing world. Contrary to popular belief, they promote moderate political participation through formal mechanisms such as voting only in democracies where institutions are working well. This is a radical departure from the bulk of the literature on civil society that sees NGOs and other associations as playing a role in strengthening democracy wherever they operate. Instead, shows that where democratic institutions are weak, NGOs encourage much more contentious political participation, including demonstrations, riots, and protests. Except in extreme cases of poorly functioning democratic institutions, however, the political protest that results from NGO activity is not generally antisystem or incompatible with democracy again, as long as democracy is functioning above a minimal level. is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She received her PhD in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego. Boulding s research focuses on how democracy works in younger democracies. She has published research on political participation, participatory budgeting, attitudes toward democracy, and government accountability. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Politics, Comparative Political Studies, World Development, Latin American Research Review, Party Politics, and Studies in Comparative International Development.

2 Recent literature on the resurgence of protest in Latin America may have inadvertently reinforced the divide between protest politics and electoral politics. Boulding s first-rate analysis of NGOs protest activity suggests that this divide is fluid rather than fixed. Her study makes an important contribution to the existing literature by explaining how the political context conditions the influence of NGO activity, and how this context, in turn, encourages NGOs to promote protests in some cases and voting in others. Boulding s study also provides a solid foundation about the effects of protest on new democracies, showing that protests are not always incompatible with the workings of young democracies. The methodological sophistication of her analysis is outstanding and well executed. Overall, Boulding has left a footprint on the contentious and comparative politics literatures. Moises Arce, Department of Political Science, University of Missouri Boulding has written an impressive and important book that offers a new way of understanding the role NGOs play in promoting political participation and political stability in young democracies. It weaves together rich empirical evidence from Bolivia, Latin America, and cross-national surveys to show that protests need not undermine weak democracies, but can strengthen them by giving citizens meaningful ways to express their grievances. This emphasis on contentious politics will energize a literature that tends to focus narrowly on voting and electoral politics. Claudio A. Holzner, University of Utah

3 NGOs, Political Protest, and Civil Society CAREW BOULDING University of Colorado at Boulder

4 32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY , USA Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence. Information on this title: / This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2014 Printed in the United States of America A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data Boulding, Carew. NGOs, political protest, and civil society /. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN (hardback) 1. Non-governmental organizations Political activity Developing countries. 2. Political participation Developing countries. 3. Civil society Developing countries. 4. Protest movements Developing countries. 5. Democracy Developing countries. I. Title. JZ4841.B dc ISBN Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

5 To my three amazing daughters, with gratitude for the joy, balance, and focus you bring to me. And to Aaron, my husband, for everything.

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7 Contents List of Figures List of Tables List of Appendixes Acknowledgments page xi xii xiv xv 1. Introduction 1 Why This Book? 5 The Scope: Democracies in the Developing World 7 The Argument in Brief 9 NGOs and Civil Society: Definitions 11 Research Design and Plan of the Book 14 Subnational Analysis: Comparing Municipalities 15 Multilevel Models: Individuals and the Functioning of Democracy 17 Chapter Outline NGOs, Mobilization, Participation, and Democracy 21 The Third Sector 24 Civil Society 24 Associations and Social Capital 25 Non-Governmental Organizations 26 More Critical Views 27 Voting, Protest, and Civil Society 29 Voter Participation 30 Social Movements and Contentious Mobilization 32 NGOs, Resources, and Association in Developing Democracies 34 Mobilization and Quality of Democracy 37 Defining Quality of Democracy 38 Civil Society, Mobilization, and Attitudes toward Democracy 40 vii

8 viii Contents Hypotheses, Summarized 44 Conclusions Local NGO Activity and Its Consequences in Bolivian Municipalities 47 NGOs, Civil Society, and Participation in Bolivia 50 NGO Activity in Bolivia, Links between NGOs and Political Participation in Bolivia 56 Quantitative Analysis: NGOs, Protest, and Voting in Bolivian Municipalities 63 Data and Research Design 65 Voter Turnout Data 68 Protest Data 70 Control Variables 70 Findings: Does NGO Activity Increase Voter Turnout? 71 Findings: Does NGO Activity Increase Protest? 73 Findings: Local Quality of Democracy 75 Conclusions NGOs, Associations, Protest, and Voting in Latin America 88 Why Latin America? 91 NGOs, Associations, and Participation in Latin America 93 Who Has Contact with NGOs? Who Joins Associations? 94 Who Protests? 96 Research Design 98 Measuring Political Action 99 Measuring Contact with NGOs and Associations 100 Country-Level Factors 101 Findings: The Direct Effect of NGOs and Membership 105 Concerns with Endogeneity and Causality 107 Findings: The Conditional Effect of NGOs on Participation 110 Conclusions Associational Activity and Participation in Developing Democracies 126 Defining the Scope of Comparison: Developing Democracies 129 Is Latin America Just Different? 130 Testing the Effect of Membership on Participation 134 Measuring Political Action with the World Values Survey 135 Measuring Membership in Civil Society 135 Findings: Does Membership Increase Protest? Voting? 136 Multilevel Models of Membership and Participation 138 Findings: Does It Matter How Well Elections Are Working? 139 Alternative Explanations 146 Conclusions 146

9 Contents ix 6. Civil Society, Protest, and Attitudes toward Democracy 152 Civil Society and Support for Weakly Democratic Political Systems 155 Protest and Democracy in Bolivia, Survey Evidence: Membership and Democratic Support 166 Research Design 166 Findings 170 Comparing Crisis and Non-Crisis Years 178 Implications beyond Bolivia 179 Conclusions Conclusions: Articulating Democratic Discontent 189 Protest and Prospects for Democracy 191 References 197 Index 209

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11 Figures 3.1 Growth in NGOs in Bolivia, page Map of NGO distribution in Bolivia by poverty level, Map of NGO distribution in Bolivia by education, Effect of change in NGOs on change in protest by political competition Contact with NGOs and associations Contact with NGOs and participation in protest by country Protest and voting by country in Latin America Varieties of participation in Latin America NGO contact and associational membership Membership in associations by type Effect of NGO contact on protest Effect of NGO contact on voting Membership by type and by region Membership and protest rates by country Effect of active membership on protest Components of the support for the political system index Civil society membership and support for the political system Effect of membership on support for protesters versus non-protesters 177 xi

12 Tables 1.1 Comparing Civil Society Organizations: NGOs and Membership Associations page Democratic Variation within Democracies Hypotheses NGOs in Bolivia by Sector and Subsector Change in Municipal Voter Turnout, Change in Incidences of Protest, Attitudes toward Democracy in Competitive and Uncompetitive Municipalities OLS Change in Protest and Turnout Who Protests? Who Protests? (cont d.) Contact with NGOs, Voting, and Protest in Latin America Effect of NGOs on Nonvoting Participation Effect of NGOs on Political Protest by Level of Political Interest Relationship between NGOs, Associational Membership, Voting, and Protest Are Membership Patterns Different in Latin America? Logistic Regression: The Effect of Membership on Different Types of Participation Effect of Membership on Different Types of Participation Relationship between Active Membership, Voting, and Protest Interactive Models with Party Institutionalization Determinants of Support for the Political System Membership in Civil Society Organizations Percentages of Various Groups Who Are Active Members of Civil Society Organizations 175 xii

13 Tables xiii 6.4 Effect of Membership on Support by Participation in Protest Effect of Membership on Protest in Bolivia 2004 Diffuse and Specific Support Bolivia 2008 Diffuse and Specific Support Effect of Membership on System Support in Ecuador,

14 Appendixes 3.1 Robustness Checks: Variations on Model 1 page Robustness Checks: Variations on Model OLS Changes in Protest and Turnout (5% Threshold for Competitiveness) Change in Incidences of Protest, Summary Statistics (Bolivia Municipal Data) Correlation Matrix Multilevel Models with Additional Country-Level Controls Multilevel Models with Interactions Summary Statistics (Latinobar ó metro 2005) Data Appendix (Latinobar ó metro 2005) Data Appendix (World Values Survey 2005 Analysis) Summary Statistics (World Values Survey 2005) Summary Statistics (LAPOP, 2004) Specific Forms of Support in Specific Forms of Support in xiv

15 Acknowledgments Writing this book has taken me through nearly a decade of change finishing my PhD, becoming a mother, returning to my hometown of Boulder, Colorado, as an assistant professor, finding my footing and my voice as a scholar and researcher, and learning to balance a family of three young daughters and two exciting careers. My husband Aaron has been my partner the whole way, encouraging me to go for it, believing in me without fail, and joyfully sharing in our very full life. He inspires me to be the person, scholar, and mother that I want to be, for which I am very grateful. I have my grandparents, Kenneth and Elise Boulding, to thank for making academia look like a good idea. I have early childhood memories of my grandfather lying in a hammock in the woods at their mountain cabin, holding a small tape recorder and dictating economics books, and my grandmother telling stories of exciting travels and fascinating people. Although no part of this process has felt remotely like lying in a hammock, it has been more rewarding than I could have imagined. I am grateful to my grandparents for setting such an example and hope one day to figure out how to spend more time in a hammock. Luckily, I have also been influenced by folks with a slightly more realistic image of what an academic life would be like. Thank you to the many wonderful colleagues and professors at UC San Diego, including my adviser Paul Drake (whose regular encouragement kept me from dropping out of graduate school, I am certain), Emily Beaulieu, Gary Cox, David Cunningham, Scott Desposato, Melody Ellis Valdini, Clark Gibson, Maureen Feeley, Karen Ferree, Kathleen Gallagher Cunningham, Kristian Gleditsch, Peter Gourevitch, Steph Haggard, Susan Hyde, Miles Kahler, David Lake, Craig McIntosh, Alejandra R í os C á zares, Phil Roeder, and Peter Smith. I still have trouble believing the good fortune that brought me to the University of Colorado. I was thrilled to return to Boulder, but I never could xv

16 xvi Acknowledgments have imagined I would have colleagues as smart, kind, and generous as they are. Jennifer Wolak, Jennifer Fitzgerald, and Vanessa Baird you are amazing. Aysegul Aydin, Scott Adler, Krister Andersson, Andy Baker, Lorraine Bayard de Volo, Ken Bickers, David Bearce, David Brown, Steve Chan, Susan Clarke, Ed Greenberg, John Griffin, Joe Jupille, Moonhawk Kim, Amy Liu, Celeste Montoya, Anand Sokhey, Sarah Sokhey, Sven Steinmo, Jaroslav Tir what a department! Also at CU, the Institute of Behavioral Science has been a wonderful resource, providing a quiet secret office and a weekly working group where many of these ideas were developed. This book has benefited from generous feedback at different stages from Mois é s Arce, Fodei Batty, Damarys Canache, Thomas Carothers, Jos é Cheibub, Matthew Cleary, Dan Corstange, Sarah Croco, Todd Eisenstadt, Thomas Flores, Karleen Jones West, Darren Kew, Sharon Lean, Daniel Moreno, Nancy Postero, Roberta Rice, Joel Simmons, Sidney Tarrow, Mariano Tommasi, Donna Lee Van Cott, Brian Wampler, and Deborah Yashar. Amaney Jamal and Claudio Holzner deserve special thanks for reading the whole manuscript and providing valuable feedback. I am thankful for the openness and generosity with which scholars in Bolivia shared their insights with me; in particular conversations with George Gray Molina, Ramiro Molina, Tom Kruse, and Xavier Á lbo stand out. Many thanks also to my interview subjects in NGOs and government. My thanks, also, to Lewis Bateman and three anonymous reviewers for Cambridge University Press, who supported this project and gave valuable feedback for improving it. Data collection for this project was supported by a Scholar Grant from the Center to Advance Research and Teaching in the Social Sciences (CARTSS) at the University of Colorado, and the research assistance of Maureen Donaghy, Raymond Foxworth, Duncan Lawrence, Shawnna Mullenax, Abby Nimz, and Lydia Van Vleet. Jami Nunez deserves special mention as my co-author for some of the research presented in Chapter 6 (drawn from our article published in Latin American Research Review ). Also thanks to Lindsay Galway for creating the maps of Bolivia in Chapter 3. Funding for field work came from the Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies (CILAS) at the University of California, San Diego, and from the University of California Institute for Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC). Thanks also to the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) and its major supporters (the United Stated Agency for International Development, the United Nations Development Programme, the Inter-American Development Bank, and Vanderbilt University) for making the data available. I am also grateful to the researchers at the World Values Survey and the Latinobarometer for making their data available. There are two people who deserve so much thanks that anything written here seems inadequate. Irfan Nooruddin has been a constant champion of this book, a remarkable mentor, and a dear friend. Emily Beaulieu, my closest friend, has been a constant source of inspiration as we both navigated UCSD,

17 Acknowledgments xvii then tenure-track jobs, having children, and writing books. This friendship has truly carried me through. Thank you. Finally, I would not have made it this far without the support of my friends and family outside of academia. I am so grateful for my three incredible daughters, Sevilla, Maya, and Elise, who amaze and delight me every day. My family near and far deserve thanks for putting up with me through this long process, especially Mark and Patricia Boulding, Kathi and Wayne Grider, my Grandma Frances, my dear aunt Pam, my best friend Melinda, my sister Frances, and my brother Bjorn. Most importantly, thanks to my husband Aaron, for always believing in me and supporting me, and helping me keep perspective. My thanks start and finish with him. All errors and omissions are, of course, my own.