The Review of International Organizations

, Volume 12, Issue 3, pp 397–419 | Cite as

The reputations of NGOs: Peer evaluations of effectiveness

Article
First Online:

Abstract

This article explores the reputations of transnational non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and their determinants. Although the concept of reputation has received extensive treatment in international relations, NGO reputation has received less attention. Yet reputations are critical to the construction of NGO authority and to patterns of collaboration. We develop a framework for studying NGO reputation. We then provide empirical evidence on the construction of a particular dimension of NGO reputation, that of organizational effectiveness from the perspective of NGO peers. Based on a mixed-method, in-depth interview study of transnational NGO leaders, we identify specific factors associated with NGOs’ effectiveness reputations among their peers. Larger, older, more highly visible organizations, organizations adopting hybrid strategies, and organizations headquartered outside of Washington, DC enjoy higher reputations for organizational effectiveness. Our analysis provides context for understanding the influence of transnational NGOs in world affairs and offers insight into the role of reputation in global politics more generally.

Keywords

Transnational NGOs Reputation Effectiveness Authority Cooperation 

JEL Classification

Y800 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Jack Clancy for his research assistance and Naazneen Barma, Tosca Maria Bruno-Van Vijfeijken, Hans Peter Schmitz, and several anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.

This research was supported by Middlebury College, the National Science Foundation Grant No. SES-0527679 (Agents of Change: Transnational NGOs as Agents of Change: Toward Understanding Their Governance, Leadership, and Effectiveness), and the Transnational NGO Initiative at the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs at Syracuse University.

Supplementary material

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Colin Powell SchoolThe City College of New YorkNew YorkUSA
  2. 2.Middlebury CollegeMiddleburyUSA

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