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Determinants of civil society influence: The case of international development and humanitarian NGOs in the Czech Republic and Hungary

  • Original Article
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Comparative European Politics Aims and scope

Abstract

Accession to the EU has had ambiguous effects on civil society organizations (CSOs) in the East Central European countries. A general observation is that accession has not led to the systematic empowerment of CSOs in terms of growing influence on national policy making. This article investigates the determinants of successful CSO advocacy by looking at international development and humanitarian NGOs (NGDOs) in the Czech Republic and Hungary. Reforms in the past decade in the Czech Republic have created an international development policy largely in line with NGDO interests, while Hungary’s ministry of foreign affairs seems to have been unresponsive to reform demands from civil society. The article argues that there is clear evidence of NGDO influence in the Czech Republic on international development policy, which is because of the fact that Czech NGDOs have been able solve problems of collective actions, while the Hungarian NGDO sector remains fragmented. They also have relatively stronger capacities, can rely on greater public support and can thus present more legitimate demands towards their government.

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Notes

  1. Interview with a Hungarian NGDO expert, 01 February 2013.

  2. Interviews with an expert from a Czech NGDO and CONCORD, 23 January 2013 and 04 February 2013.

  3. Interview with a FoRS board member, 07 March 2013.

  4. Interview with a FoRS board member, 07 March 2013, and a Czech NGDO expert, 04 February 2013.

  5. Interview with a Czech NGDO expert, 08 March 2013.

  6. Interview with a CzDA official, 15 February 2013.

  7. Interview with a Czech NGDO expert, 07 March 2013.

  8. Interview with a FoRS representative, 08 March 2013.

  9. Interview with a Hungarian NGDO expert, 05 November 2012.

  10. Interview with a Hungarian NGDO expert, 05 November 2012.

  11. Interview with a Hungarian NGDO expert, 06 February 2013.

  12. Interview with a FoRS representative, 08 March 2013.

  13. The database is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/funding/beneficiaries/index.cfm?lang=en.

  14. While the EC is the most important international source of financing for NGDOs in ECE, other sources, such as the UN system, may also play a role. However, it has not been possible to obtain comparable data on Czech and Hungarian participation from these sources.

  15. Interview with a FoRS board member, 07 March 2013.

  16. Interview with a Czech NGDO expert, 04 February 2013.

  17. Interview with a Czech NGDO expert, 08 March 2013.

  18. Interview with a Hungarian NGDO expert, 01 February 2013.

  19. Interview with a Czech NGDO expert, 04 February 2013.

  20. Interview with a FoRS board member, 07 March 2013.

  21. Interview with a Czech MFA official, 07 March 2013.

  22. Interview with a Czech MFA official, 07 March 2013.

  23. Interview with a CzDA official, 21 April 2012.

  24. Interview with a FoRS representative, 08 March 2013.

  25. Interview with Czech NGDO experts, 07 March 2013 and 17 October 2013.

  26. In her analysis of Slovenian NGDOs, Bučar (2012, p. 85) characterizes this relationship as ‘allies’ in the ‘promotion of the topic for their mutual benefit’.

  27. Interview with a FoRS board member, 07 March 2013.

  28. Interview with a Hungarian NGDO expert, 06 February 2013.

  29. Interview with a Hungarian MFA official, 24 April 2013.

  30. Interview with a Hungarian NGDO expert, 01 February 2013.

  31. Interview with a Hungarian MFA official, 24 April 2013.

  32. Interview with a Hungarian MFA official, 25 November 2012.

  33. Interview with a Hungarian NGDO expert, 06 February 2013.

  34. Interview with a Hungarian NGDO expert, 05 August 2013.

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Acknowledgements

The writing of this paper was supported by the EU’s FP7 Marie Curie Programme (project INTDEPNEW). The authors are grateful to all the government, EU officials and NGO representatives who agreed to be interviewed. Charlie Burns and two anonymous reviewers provided helpful and insightful comments and the paper is much improved as a result. The editors at CEP provided excellent editorial guidance. The views expressed here are our own, as are any mistakes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Languages and Social Sciences, Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham, B4 7 ET, UK

    Balázs Szent-Iványi

  2. Department of World Economy, Corvinus University of Budapest, Fovam ter 8, Budapest, H-1093, Hungary

    Balázs Szent-Iványi

  3. School of Politics and International Studies (POLIS), University of Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK

    Simon Lightfoot

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  1. Balázs Szent-Iványi
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Correspondence to Balázs Szent-Iványi.

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Szent-Iványi, B., Lightfoot, S. Determinants of civil society influence: The case of international development and humanitarian NGOs in the Czech Republic and Hungary. Comp Eur Polit 14, 761–780 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1057/cep.2014.50

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