Organizations in a Post-Liberal World: A Cross-National Investigation into the Changing Scales, Strategies, and Missions of NGOs

Princeton University, Princeton NJ

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to understand how non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operate amidst on-going threats around the world. Over the 20th century, NGOs became instrumental in providing social services, advocating for marginalized communities, and working as partners in state governance. Now, however, these organizations are increasingly confronted with political repression and decreased access to necessary resources that sustain their work. How are these new challenges are transforming NGOs: their strategies, missions, and their overall numbers? Findings from this investigation offer important insights into how NGOs are navigating this moment and how external supporters can ensure their instrumental work continues. This project investigates how different political, economic, cultural, and ecological threats influence the missions and strategies of NGOs, along with their overall scale, using different quantitative and causal methods. To do so, this study develops two types of original data. The first builds on a previously assembled dataset of roughly 10,000 minority-serving NGOs from 172 countries between 1980-2022. This dataset tracks the founding rates and mission statements of each NGO over time. The second component is an original survey administered to each NGO. This survey asks organizational leaders how strategies have fluctuated amidst different types of potential threats. Together, these datasets have the ability to unlock a variety of insights into the cultures, needs, strategies, and operations of NGOs, even beyond the current proposal. This research not only advance theoretical understandings of how organizations operate during a period of unprecedented threat but contributes a new resource of minority-serving organizations accessible to those in need. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.